Cat's Eye
by Papilio.Ageha
Summary: Kurapika was reported dead due an attack to the Nostrades by no other than the Phantom Troupe. Years later Gon and co. meets someone that looks exactly like him. Is it a doppelganger, another Kuruta, or Kurapika himself? Fem!Kurapika.
1. Prologue Flame

**Greetings! First of all, thank you for deciding to read my first fanfic in this fandom~ *bows* I was once a humor and fluff fics writer so I'm not really experienced in writing serious story (sort of). I hope I can do this well. Any suggestion and concrit are always welcomed :D On other note, English isn't my first language and I don't think I've received enough lessons on it, so please pardon me for any grammatical errors and typos. Corrections are also welcomed here!**

**Anyway, nice to meet you and I hope you'll enjoy this little prologue.**

**Update: This chapter is beta read by SageofAges729**

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**Cat's Eye**

**Summary:** Kurapika was reported dead due an attack to the Nostrades by no other than the Phantom Troupe. Years later Gon and co. meets someone that looks exactly like him. Is it a doppelganger, a ghost, or Kurapika himself?

**Warning:** Fem!Kurapika. I think the label explains it all. If you can't accept it, perhaps it's better not to read this. Although, I'll be really happy and thankful if you give it a shot! Kurapika will be address as 'he' for the several first chapters. It'll change into 'she' later.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own HunterxHunter and its characters.

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**Prologue**

**Flame**

The boy heard a soft jingling sound from afar. It was vague, but clear enough for him to distinguish it as the sound of metal chains. He glanced at his colleagues; they seemed indifferent. It was as if they couldn't heard it… or the sound itself didn't exist in the first place. It didn't take a lot of time for him to find out that the sound came from no other than him. It was his nen, his chains.

He slowly closed his eyes and concentrated his mind. As aquamarine beneath the black veils turned into ruby color, he could feel the jingle steadily become louder and soon, he found himself drowning in a pitch black dimension. An image of a single nen chain then appeared before him. One of its ends was attached to his little finger while the other was unseen, fused with the darkness on the other side of that place which looked endless.

_The judgment chain._

He traced the chain; it linked him to something, or someone to be precise. There were only two _living_ people who had the blades wrapped around their hearts. The first was himself, using this ability for the sake of strengthening his nen, while the other was none other than the Phantom Troupe's leader: Chrollo Lucilfer.

_The time finally had come._

He knew his chain was _dying_. It was crumbling due a strange, ghostly force from a third party.

_The exorcist._

The chain used its last strength to maintain its shape, supported by the essence of Kurapika's aura that had been left on it at the time when his two conditions had been appointed. His current state couldn't project any nen to preserve the chain. No, he should not. He was not allowed to. If there was anything he could do right now, it was only to wait, wait for the chain's final moment.

Suddenly, the chain shook violently, causing cracks on several parts of it. As the exorcist gave his final blow, the blade of his chain broke apart, resulting destruction on the chain. The breaks started from the other end, where the blade had been, to the last piece of the chain that was connected to a ring on his little finger. The chain crumbled rapidly, turned into gleaming metal dust that evaporated away. He felt a great shock on his heart once it was completely destroyed. It was as if his heart had been tightly bonded by an invisible chain. It was suffocating; he could barely breathe while using his nen to prevent his heart from getting crushed.

"Kurapika!"

Said boy snap opened his eyes. His eyes adjusted to the intense light of the _outside world_ for a second then turned to his colleague.

"What is it?" He asked, trying to sound as calm and collected as he could.

The small woman looked at him with worried eyes. "No, it's just… You look unwell."

"I'm fine." He stated before turning away.

Knowing that he wouldn't say anything else, she only nodded without any further question. There was a silence in the air, accompanied by the whir that came from the engine of the car they were in. Nevertheless, Senritsu could always hear more; the driver's soft yet rhythmic taps on the wheel, strange squeaking sound produced by Basho's leather pants and the car seat rubbing against each other as he changed his sitting position, suppressed yawns, gulps, breaths, heartbeats… Kurapika's heartbeats had suddenly turned restless and unsteady, and this concerned her. Stealing a glance at the boy who sat behind the driver's seat, she could only wish that he would be fine.

Kurapika faced the window, his eyes weren't focused on the flashing scenery outside. Instead, his mind drifted to the vision he just had. He put his hand to his chest. The pain was still there, although it had lessened. He gradually gained his composure back and his breath had become steadier now. One thing he knew for sure, Chrollo Lucilfer was now free from his Judgment Chain. The Phantom Troupe might show up for a fight anytime and here he was, accompanying Neon Nostrade for a holiday with her father at the Nostrades' property located in Twebinnen Mountain.

Twebinnen Mountain was a small, right-angled triangular mountain belonged to the Nostrades, located in Vanbal Region of the Republic of Nesie. It was cliffy and surrounded by thick forest, making it almost impossible for normal people to hike. The only way that led to the villa was a heavily guarded road. Right on the villa's backyard was a cliff with a deep, fast-flowing river at its bottom. Only death awaited for those who dared to climb the slippery wall. Out of all places, Light Nostrade chose this place for the sake of his only daughter's safety. He even doubled up the guard's number protecting this area, starting from the foothills until the peak where the villa stood.

Well, for the mafia boss the safety might look decent, but Kurapika felt otherwise. The young leader of Neon's personal bodyguards knew that most of the young lady's personal _collections_ were kept in an underground gallery below the villa. If his archenemies knew of this as well, it would raise the probability of getting attacked by the Troupe, as they might be attracted to her rare and high valued collections of human body parts as well.

Kurapika sighed. He must be worrying too much. Even though his chain had been broken, it would still take a quite some time for the head to rejoin with its limbs. The Spiders were also well-known for having a perfectly organized plan before they moved so this would also give him more time (that is, of course, if they really chose _not_ to let go what had happened back in the Yorknew City and planned to confront him as soon as possible). The problem was, there might be another third party beside the exorcist who acted as a messenger between Chrollo and the rest of the Spiders. Orders could be given, thoughts could be exchanged, and plans could be prepared without any direct communication. According to Killua, Hisoka might have intervened in this matter. The magician might have been the one who had found the exorcist for Chrollo in the first place. Fortunately, judging by his personality, there was no way Hisoka would let Chrollo get away without a death match.

'I still have time,' Kurapika reassured himself. It would be better for him to distance himself from the Nostrades, because unlike him, who couldn't trace the Spiders' whereabouts, they knew perfectly where to find him. He also had to warn Gon and the others about Chrollo's breakout. Their safety was always the most important thing to him, more than anything else. He took his phone out from his pocket, staring at the black screen, his thumb rubbing on the keypads. He would call them once he reached the villa.

But he couldn't.

As soon as he and his companions reached the peak of the mountain, the villa was already on fire. The air was stifling and everything he saw was bright red. He could hear the crackling of the fire and people's screams that came from the burning building.

Just when he was thinking that he still had a little time left…

"What happened?" He asked Nostrade's men. They only stood there, looking at the inferno with terrified faces as if they had been petrified on their feet and couldn't do anything to stop the fire.

"W- We… We're under attack," one of them stuttered. His eyes never left the blaze. "T- The boss is still… there… inside…"

"No! Papa!" Neon screamed as she ran toward the blaze. Her servants tried to stop her but she shoved them away. Fortunately Basho managed to catch her arm and stop her right before she entered the fire. She struggled but was too powerless against the brawny man. "Let me go! My father is there!" Tears of despair poured down her cheeks.

"I can't," Basho deadpanned, his hand firmly held on her thin wrist. Call him heartless, but as her bodyguard, it was his priority to keep her away from danger at _any cost. _Besides, there was nothing she could do even if she had gone in there. Light Nostrade might have been dead, as well as the others, and the enemies might be still nearby. Only a madman would run into the blaze in that kind of situation.

But there was a madman amongst them, whose eyes invisibly turned scarlet as soon as he heard the people muttered a single, cursed word.

_Spiders._

He ran into the building, ignoring his colleagues' warning. He was too reckless and it might cost his own life, but for him, this fire was nothing compared to the raging flame within him which burned him inside out: anger, hatred, vengeance…

Senritsu could only watch him disappear into the blaze. His heartbeats were just like the time when they had pursued the big man from the Troupe at the outskirts of Yorknew City... And it wasn't a good sign. She had a bad feeling about this… Really, really bad.

Her intuition was right. It turned out to be the last time she saw him.

When the next dusk came, the fire had finally been put out. The red color had changed into sorrowful black. The entire property was beyond repair, and the furniture inside had been reduced into ashes. All of Neon's collections had disappeared, along with the people that had been supposedly trapped inside the holocaust. It was just like the incident at Yorknew City's underground auctions; the dead bodies had been wiped clean by an unknown, strange power.

* * *

Time flew by and two years had passed since that tragedy. Three young men made their way along the heavily guarded road. It was the same road their dear friend had once took some time before his death.

"It's not that I don't appreciate their kindness for letting us pass without any trouble, but," the oldest guy huffed. "I would be grateful if they'd also accommodate us with transportation."

"Better watch your mouth, old man. You might get yourself killed because of it," a silver haired boy snorted.

The first man looked around in fear that the mafia had heard his complaint and got offended just like the teenaged Killua said. He then noticed something in the younger's statement and turned to him. "Wha- Wait, you called me old man, didn't you? How many times I've told you this: I'm just _a little_ older than you!"

"But you do act like an old man." Killua smirked in amusement at getting Leorio agitated so easily. Such a typical emitter, he thought.

"There, there, Leorio." The last member of the group, Gon, tried to calm down the man in the suit. Honestly, it had been a whole year since the three of them had last met but it seemed that the only thing these two could do was fighting. Killua never missed his chance to tease Leorio while the hotheaded guy almost always got irritated by any single word that came from the ex-assassin's mouth. Well, Killua did look like he was having fun (and perhaps reminiscing about the good old times) but Gon was worried about Leorio. He had heard that life as an aspiring doctor had been quite stressful and in Leorio's case, a large portion of Killua's teasing might double it up.

Sheesh, what would Kurapika say if he had seen this?

During his childhood, Aunt Mito had once told him that people's souls would have turned into stars when they had died. He looked up to the blue sky. It wasn't like he had been expecting to see the stars at noon but he knew that stars were always there even though they couldn't be seen… just like ghosts.

Gon wondered whether Kurapika's soul had really turned into a star, like what Aunt Mito had said. Or had he turned into a ghost instead, haunting the Spiders he had despised so much?

"Here we are." Killua's voice brought him back to the reality. He hadn't notice that they had reached the peak of Twebinnen Mountain.

What stood before them was no longer a luxurious villa but a graveyard. Under Neon's orders the remaining ruins of the villa had been demolished and gravestones had been placed, though there was not a single corpse beneath the ground. The biggest one was (obviously) Light Nostrade's. Around his grave were the capos' and notable members' of the family. She also built one for Kurapika. Even though he had been employed as a mere bodyguard, in her eyes he had been a brave man who had sacrificed his life in an attempt to save her father. At least, that was what she believed. Senritsu knew well that it hadn't been the reason why he had ran into the fire on that day, but she never bothered to tell the lady.

"Gon, Killua, Leorio!" The three saw Senritsu waving at them. They walked approaching the small woman, who was standing in front of a certain gravestone: Kurapika's.

"Senritsu!" Gon exclaimed. "I thought you'd have left by the time we reached this place."

"We planned to, but boss is taking more time than we expected," she explained while gazing at Neon with a sad, knowing look.

'Ah, that's why there were so many guards here.' Killua mentally noted.

"I see." Gon said as he followed her gaze and saw a young woman crossing her fingers as she knelt before the largest gravestone. Neon Nostrade had changed a lot. She wasn't a spoiled child anymore and, with Senritsu's and Basho's support as well as the servants who were closest to her, she lived her life as the new head of Nostrade Family. Everyone had changed in the past two years. Gon himself and his two close friends probably had changed as well.

"Well," Senritsu said, averting the guys' attention back to her. "I guess I'll let you have your private talk here," she referred to Kurapika's gravestone. "See you later." With that, she excused herself.

Gon, Killua and Leorio looked at each other. They still found it strange to talk to a solid stone when they knew that their friend's body wasn't even there in the first place. After a moment of awkward silence and exchanging glances, the black spiky haired teenager decided to speak up.

"Ging… My dad," Gon began. "He discovered ruins of an underground temple that presumably belonged to the Kurta Clan and is investigating it. He told me he wanted to take me there once the excavation was done. He also said that I could bring my friends along." He stopped for a while, clenching his fists while trying to fight his tears back.

"_I wish I could bring you there."_

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**Okay, so the prologue ends here! Did you find it too cliché? XD For further information, there might be romance in future chapters though I'm still unsure about it. I've thought of the pairing as well but... hm, let's keep it as a secret for now.**

**For the timeline, this story takes place two years after the New Hunter Chairman Election arc which mean Gon and Killua are around 15 while Leorio is around 21.**

**So, how do you like it? Please review and do tell me your opinion on it. Suggestions and concrits are welcomed! **


	2. I Apparition

**Hello, there. Thank you for sticking with this story, especially to the reviewers! I hope you all enjoy this chapter ^^**

**Disclaimer: Hunter x Hunter and its characters never belong to me.**

**Please excuse me for any grammatical mistakes and typos here. **

**For another note, I think I have to remind you that this is a Fem!Kurapika story. ****BTW Kurapika will still be call as he as long as the others_ think_ that she's a he. I'm sorry if it's confusing.**

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**I**

**Apparition**

Sounds of tides and seagulls accompanied the Hunter Trio: Gon, Killua, and Leorio, as they boarded a ship with a small island called Honn as its destination. The island located on the border of Vanbal Region, four-hour trip by the sea from the mainland where the Twibinnen Mountain stood. Even though it could have been easier to take a plane to reach the capital of the nation, where all international flight took place, the three agreed to take a ship and have a detour instead. None of them were in a hurry, thus they used this chance to make up the time they had lost due the separation. They told stories, sharing journeys and notable moments as well as reminiscing the good, old time.

During the past two years, Gon had set his new goal, as he had found his father and managed to keep the old man constantly in touch, and was on his way to become a professional beast hunter. His meeting with Kuckle in the past had introduced him to a job that let him to protect both the mankind and animals he loved. Killua, on the other hand, was still on his little _escape_ with Alluka. He took the little sister to various places in the world as a makeup of the freedom she had lost while she had been locked up in the isolated room. He also had Bisky trained Alluka's physical and nen abilities in case Illumi would chase after them again. As for Leorio, he was still struggling with his medical study. He still needed at least two years of study and another two years of training to become a decent doctor.

Time flew really fast and the four-hour trip seemed like only several minutes for them when they enjoyed each other's company. The ship reached the Harbor of Honn Island. It was a very peaceful journey, unlike the very first time Gon and Leorio had abroad a ship together. There had been a big storm back then and Leorio and Kurapika had been literally trying to slice each other's throat.

Gon deeply inhaled the unpolluted air of the island, mixed with scent of the sea. The feeling he got there was similar to Whale Island. The moment he stepped his foot on the ground, he decided he would ask Killua and Leorio to visit his hometown later.

The three of them looked around, familiarized their selves to the new surroundings. The harbor was small and desolated. There were a group of boats anchoring on the other side of the dock, presumably belonged to the local fishermen. Judging the number of the ship, fishery might be the bread and butter for the people residing this area. There was also a medium-sized ship beside the ship they had boarded. Its sailors were moving several containers out of the ship and placed them on the pier. Shipment, they concluded.

Leorio looked at his watch; their next ship wouldn't come before the night fall. Instead of waiting there, it would be better to take a stroll to the village and had a lunch. He signaled his companions and the two nodded as they understood what the older guy meant. However, as they were about to leave the harbor, they heard a commotion around the freighter.

"I say I'll pay double so hand over that fucking box!" said a man with a typical thug look: muscular body, tattoos covering his arms, piercings, and on top of everything, fierce look. He stood in front of a wooden table next to the piling containers, supposedly a counter where people collect their orders. Most of the people who previously stood in a line behind him had backed away in fear. On the other side of the counter, stood another man, the employee in charge, who looked extremely terrified of the first man.

Killua rolled his eyes as he saw this sight. "Just pretend that we don't see anything nor hear anything." He suggested to his friends. Getting involved in any problem here would only be a pain in the ass. Besides, these people must know how to find their way out.

An old man wearing the same uniform as the frightened employee then came to the scene with a young woman. He tapped his co-worker and asked to let him handle this matter. The younger employee quickly took a step backward and let the senior face the big guy. The older employee cleared his throat then started talking. "I'm sorry, Sir, but we can't let you have it. You see, the lady over here has reserved it first," he referred to the woman stood beside him. "And according to our principle: first come first served, we can't sell it to you no matter how much you pay us."

Judging by how calm the old man was in front of the gorilla-like man, Killua could see that senior citizen had come over this kind of incident countless time during his service. Without taking a second glance to the commotion, Killua placed his arms behind his head and walked away. Well, there might be a little fight here but he was sure that gramps could handle it well.

Nevertheless, his friends didn't think the same. They were both simpleminded people who would have their selves dragged into a problematic situation without thinking of the consequences. Thankfully Gon had matured a little and refrained from _lending a hand_ as he saw how the old guy stood unshaken before the gorilla, but Leorio… As soon as he saw the gorilla-guy grabbed the old man by the collar, he shoved his trademark suitcase away and rushed toward the commotion. With a speed that exceeded a normal human (he was still a hunter after all), he arrived at the thug's side in no time and grabbed his wrist.

"Let him go." He glared at the bigger man.

'Leorio, you and your sense of justice…' Killua face-palmed.

The big guy groaned in pain as Leorio tightened his grip. He knew that he couldn't match Leorio's strength and would only get his wrist broken if this continued, so he gave up and let the old employee's collar slipped out from his grasp. He then yanked his hand from Leorio's as Leorio released him. After having himself being humiliated in front of the crowd, he decided to refrain. He shot a hateful glare to Leorio as he walk away leaving the harbor, swearing that black haired man in suit would definitely pay for this.

"Are you okay?" Leorio asked the senior citizen as the thug disappeared from his sight.

"Of course, I am," the old man answered unhesitatingly as he fixed his croaked tie. "It's all thank to you, lad. You save us, especially this pretty damsel in distress here, from that villain." He said in delight while patting on Leorio's shoulder. He didn't show any distress even thought he had just been threatened by a thug, whose size had been twice of him.

"I'm glad no one's hurt." Gon said in relief as he and Killua watched over from afar.

"Really, that gramps could've taken care of that gorilla even without Leorio's assistance." Killua sighed.

The spiky haired boy just chuckled hearing his best friend complain. True, the oldman reminded him of the examiner-captain he had met years ago during the preliminary phase of hunter exam. "Shall we go there?" He said cheerfully. Killua just shrugged in reply. The Zoldyck boy mentally noted that by now, Leorio's head should have expanded to the size of a hot air balloon because of the praise.

Well, literally.

Leorio himself had been swaying by the thought that he had just saved a woman. At the moment she was standing behind her so he hadn't seen her (and he hadn't been paid much attention when he had been agitated by the thug), but according to the old man she must be a pretty lass.

"Um, thank you for your help," the woman facing his back said.

'Here it is!' His inner self rejoiced as he heard the husky voice as he tried to maintain his coolness. Preoccupied by the unimportant things, he failed to notice how familiar the voice was to his ears. He turned around and by the time his eyes caught the glimpse of her, his eyes bulged out and his mouth gaped in disbelief.

Silky blonde hair, bright blue cat-eyes, petite nose and mouth, heart-shaped face, slim body with average height that barely passed Leorio's shoulders… What stood before him wasn't a woman he had expected, but a long lost friend he missed with his whole heard.

"Kurapika..?"

He unconsciously reached out his hands. He wanted to touch _him_, making sure that it wasn't a mere illusion… Milliseconds later, he suddenly felt an extreme pain on his head and everything blacked out.

"Lecher!" the _girl_ cried out. She quickly stepped back from the suspicious-looking guy, who was lying helplessly on the ground now, and hugged herself in a protective manner.

Gon and Killua, who were only some meters away from where he was, were taken aback. Not by the fact of their friend had just been K.O.-ed by the said damsel in distress with a kick right on his face, but it was because of the very same reason that caused Leorio out of his mind.

"Kurapika!" Both of them exclaimed in unison. The blonde turned to the two teenagers as she heard they called her by a certain name. It was the same name the lecherous guy had muttered before he had _attacked_ her. "W- Who?" She asked hesitantly.

Gon's eyes widened when her voice reached his ears. He knew that voice. He wouldn't ever forget it no matter how many years passed. It was Kurapika's, no doubt about it. He ran to her and grabbed her upper arms. "Kurapika! Kurapika you're alive!"

Unlike Gon, Killua couldn't even move an inch, petrified like a stone statue. As his brain tried its best to process what was actually happening here, questions started piling up in his mind.

Was that _really_ Kurapika? If it was true, how could the reported-to-be-dead Kuruta be here, breathing and alive? Had he escaped the death? If that so, why didn't he contact them? Moreover, why did he act as if he didn't recognize his own friends? Why did he dress like a she? Why was he here out of all places?

As if she was answering all of Killua's questions, the person in front of him opened her mouth.

"I'm not Kurapika."

* * *

Leorio slowly opened his eyes. He blinked several times to focus his vision. After his eyes could see again properly, he found himself lying on a sofa. A pillow was placed under his head and his body was covered by a thin sheet. He tried to sit up and instantly suffered a headache as soon as his head lost its support. Rubbing his temple, he looked around and familiarized himself with the new surroundings. 'Where am I?' he questioned. It was a small room, with ivory white walls and wooden floor. The room was dimly lighted by the evening sun through the windows while the lamp was turned off. There was an old TV across the room and a coffee table between it and the sofa he sat on. At the wall on his left side were a door and some shelves with different size. When he turned around, he found another door beside the sofa. It didn't take a genius to conclude that it was a living room.

The questions were: _whose_ living room it was and _why_ he was there?

He didn't remember he had visited anybody's house. Apparently he had just taken a nap there but he couldn't recall it either. There hadn't been any reason for him to take a nap either. Could it be, by any chance, had he passed out on the street then someone had taken him in? That sounded quite logical, but why on earth he had passed out on the first place?

His brows furrowed as he tried to recall whatever had happened to him. Well, he remembered he had been walking with Gon and Killua at the harbor, then some ruckus had happened, then he had jumped into the commotion to stop it and drove the bad guy away, then he got thanked by people there, then… then he had seen an apparition.

Kurapika. He had seen Kurapika.

He quickly got up. Ignoring the sheet that fell to the floor because of sudden movement, he ran to the closest door, the one next to the sofa. He turned the knob but it didn't budge. 'Damn, it's locked.' He cursed under his breath. He then charged to the other door. Luckily, it wasn't locked. "Kurapika!" He called out that name as he swung the door open. It then clashed to the wall causing a loud bang that stole any human beings' attention in the next room. Pairs of eyes stared at him. Some of them were curious, some were just simply reflecting the annoyance their owners felt. The room fell into silence when people stopped talking and turned to see him. People who were holding bottles or glasses put them on the nearest tables. Some people even stood up from their chairs and leaned forward to only to see the dumbfounded Leorio standing at the door.

Apparently he had just entered a bar that was connected to the living room through its backdoor. Whoever the owner of that house was, he or she must be running the bar for living.

"Leorio, you've awoken!" Gon's voice echoed in the silent room.

The said man snapped up and quickly scanned through the bar to find the boy. He then spotted Gon, alongside with Killua, sitting at the counter, enthusiastically waving at him. He hesitantly raised a hand to greet him back. "Why-? Where-? How-?" He only managed to say incomplete questions as he approached his friends.

"Calm down. Sit down and drink some water first." Killua said as he offered Leorio a glass of water.

Leorio took it then drank it in one gulp. He suddenly felt refreshed as the water passed through his dry throat. He wondered how many hours had passed since the last time he had drunk. Had it been four hours? Or perhaps more? No wonder why he felt his throat so dr- Wait! It wasn't the right time to think about a trivial matter like this. He turned to Gon and Killua. "Kura-" He was cut when Killua raised his hand.

"I, we, know what you wanna say. If it's about Kurapika, yes, we also saw _him_. Well, we did _think_ we saw him. However," Killua paused for a while after suppressing the several keywords. "However, it wasn't him."

"Huh? You saw him but it's not him? What the hell do you mean?" Leorio snapped out. "I'm 1000% sure it's not a ghost. It IS him, just with longer hair and skirt and… Wait! For God's sake, why would he wear a skirt?" Suddenly he felt his headache worsened. Something was really not right here.

"Uh," Killua scratched his head, trying to think the easiest way to explain this complicated matter to the nearly-lost-his-sanity Leorio. "What we mean is that person _does_ look like Kurapika, to the point that we thought it was him, but it's not Kurapika."

"You mean it's a look-alike?" Leorio raised an eyebrow skeptically.

"And it's a girl." The silver haired boy added.

Oh, that explained why she wore a skirt.

"But, wait! Kurapika and that girl, they are way too similar. I mean, not only the face but also their physical appearances and voices."

Gon and Killua exchanged looks. "We also think the same," Gon said. "But she says she's not Kurapika."

"And you guys just believe that it's simply a doppelganger phenomenon? Scientifically, it's impossible for two people to share such great similarities unless they also share the same parentage." Leorio stopped as he realized something crucial in his own speech. "Don't tell me…"

"That's what we were talking about before you came in," Killua said as he leaned back in his chair.

"So, what's your opinion on this, Leorio? You knew this field better than us after all."

It was natural for them to think that this Kurapika-look-alike might share the same blood with the _real _Kurapika. Their physical similarities were too many that they would be mistaken as twins. However, it was a pure assumption; they had no ocular proof on this. She might just look like him by a pure chance. It wasn't entirely impossible for two unrelated people to share the same look.

Nobody knew, at least for now. Nevertheless, they would find out somehow, someday. No matter how long it would take. Because they knew that if she was indeed related to Kurapika, she might be also a Kuruta as well. If by any case the Spider found out about this, they would surely hunt her down.

Now, what would Kurapika say if that ever happened? What would he say if the three of them neglect the girl's existence despite the danger she bore?

"Now that we've all agreed to do a further investigation on this, I guess the first thing we have to do is to find an inn?"

"Right, we also need to think up a plan for this."

Gon and Leorio were all hyped-up on finding out whether this girl was related to Kurapika or not, while Killua mused about the _third possibility_ that his friends hadn't noticed yet: the possibility of lying. Meaning that the look-alike might be actually the real one, but hiding his identity for a reason.

But Kurapika wasn't a type of person who would hide such a secret from his friends, was he?

* * *

**I think I'm not good enough when it comes to dialogue.  
**

**So, who's this Kurapika-look-alike girl? Will the Hunter Trio ever find out about the truth behind her existence? Out of the three possibilities the came up with, which one will turn to be true? **

**Next: Gon, Killua and Leorio start gathering information on her. Will this lead them to the conclusion? Or will it be a long way until they discover the truth?**

**That's it for now! Please drop a comment or two :D**


	3. II Kiara

**Hello! Sorry for the late update ^^;**

**I'd like to thanks people who reviewed the previous chapters. Thank you so much for your encouraging reviews. I hope this chapter won't be a letdown.**

**Disclaimer: Hunter x Hunter belongs to its respective author. I can't wait to see the new movie~!**

**Beware of typos and grammatical mistakes.**

* * *

**II**

**Kiara**

"Now that we've all agreed to do a further investigation on this, I guess the first thing we have to do is to find an inn?" Leorio took out a cell phone out of his suit's pocket. He rubbed his chin as he searched for information from the net. According to it, there weren't many inns available around. Well, that wasn't unexpected, as this place wasn't a tourism site on the first place.

Leaving the matter of finding a place to spend their night to Leorio, Gon started thinking about what they were going to do next. "Right, we also need to think up a plan for this." His two friends found it rather strange to ever heard a word _plan_ coming out from the boy's mouth. However, they chose not to bother such a thing because they knew he must have matured due his job as a professional hunter.

Killua kept silent. His eyes fixed to the half-empty glass of water in front of him while his mind filled with rather darker ideas than the other two had. He was customized to think of the worst possibility in every situation he faced. Call him pessimistic, but he was the one in charge to save their butts once the situation got worse. Whether this woman was a simply someone who coincidentally looked like Kurapika or someone related to him, they didn't know anything about her. She might be an evil person. It might even be a trap; she could have change her face into Kurapika's for a reason.

For what reason? Moreover, why would she?

Killua frowned. It was the unlikeliest case here. He might have thought too far. It would be better to confirm whether it was Kurapika or not first. Well, Kurapika was _dead_, but there was no strong evidence on it. He might have escaped death by a hair's-breadth. He might have… possibly… probably… Killua wanted to bang his head onto the desk so badly. He felt like he was going crazy. There were too many possibilities yet each of every probability was too slim.

"Oh, so you've woken up…" An unfamiliar hoarse voice broke his thought. He altered his sight from the glass to an old woman who was speaking to Leorio. Leorio himself looked rather confused when the elder greeted him.

Gon apparently noticed the change in Leorio's face as well. "Let me introduce her. She is the owner of this bar, also the very person who nursed you when you were out." He said to Leorio.

"Oh!" Leorio exclaimed as he quickly stood up and bowed politely to her. "Thank you for the help, Ma'am. Also, I'm really sorry for the trouble I caused."

"There, there. No need to feel sorry." The granny laughed as she asked him to sit back. "After all, it's my granddaughter's fault."

"Granddaughter?" Leorio blinked.

"The girl who knocked you out," she explained. "She's my granddaughter."

Something in Leorio's mind clicked and he recalled the incident this afternoon. "Oh, no, no. It was my fault too."

"See, just like what I've said: it's not my fault." Someone suddenly appeared behind the three guys. They turned around and saw the Kurapika look-alike stood holding an empty tray.

"Kiara!" The granny scolded.

The so-called Kiara girl stared at Leorio. Her intense glare made it as if she had been trying to bore through his skull. After a while, she finally closed her eyes and sighed, then reluctantly apologized. "I'm sorry for kicking you right on the face, but that wouldn't have happened if you hadn't acted suspiciously back then."

Leorio laughed nervously. He got a feeling that this girl disliked him. "Err, sorry about that. I just mistook you for a friend…"

"Heard it from your friends," she looked at Gon and Killua, then back to Leorio. "Be grateful to them, if it wasn't for them, you would've been left lying like a dead fish at the harbor." She said dryly.

Scratch that. She _hated_ him, Leorio mentally noted.

Seeing that her granddaughter's stubbornness would get them nowhere, the granny decided to change the topic. "Well then, you guys are here for the transit, right? When will your ship depart?"

"The truth is, we decided to stay here for a while because Leorio is still feeling unwell." Gon answered.

"But it'll take at least three day until the next ship come, or worse: a week. Isn't it better to catch up your ship and find a decent doctor for him?" The granny suggested.

"That's okay. We're on vacation anyway." Killua said casually while slurping his remaining drink.

"That's aside, say, grandma," Gon leaned forward. "Do you know any good inn around here?"

The granny tapped her chin and started thinking; the wrinkles on her face could be clearly seen as she frowned. "That's difficult. As far as I know there isn't any…" She kept musing for a while, before her face suddenly brightened. She clapped her hands, startling the boys with her sudden change. "I know. Why don't you guys stay here? We have an unoccupied bedroom. It's not really big, but I think it's enough for three people."

"Wait, Grandma!" Kiara protested. She couldn't stand the idea of living under the same roof with this lecherous _old man_.

"Eh? But we don't want to be a bot- Ouch!" Gon was cut when Killua suddenly stopped on his foot.

"That would be really helpful! Thanks for the offer grandma!" Killua's intentional exclamation suppressed Gon's words. The raven-haired boy didn't understand why his best friend did so, but concerning the sudden change on the once laidback Killua, he decided to shut his mouth and refrain from complaining for his aching foot. Killua must have thought of something.

Gon's intuition was right. Killua had seen a great chance coming through the granny's invitation. What could be better than staying near the Kurapika look-alike and digging up any necessary information right from the person in question?

* * *

"There. I think it's decent enough to be called a _bedroom_ now," the female blonde said as she had just finished cleaning a small, around 3x3m, room. One of her hand placed on her hips while the other held a broom she had used for sweeping. Her long skirt fluttered some inches away from the now clean wooden floor as she walked toward the only window in the room and opened it to let some fresh evening air in. "Really, what's that old woman thinking, turning a storeroom into a guestroom." She sighed, exhausted both mentally and physically by the extra load of work she had.

Gon and co. peaked inside from the door frame. The room looked spacious while it was unfurnished. For the last hour, they had been moving several wardrobes and wooden boxes out of the room. After Kiara had cleaned it, it was indeed look like a decent bedroom fit for three people.

"All we need are futons. It will be quite stuffy once we move them in, not to mention that the air is kinda frowsy, but that's all we can afford for now," she explained matter-of-factly. It was clear for the guys to see that she didn't want to hear their complaints afterwards. "As you can see the kitchen is next door so you can get water by yourselves. As gradma said: make yourself home, and if I might add: behave yourself." She threw a glare at Leorio before turning to Gon and Killua. "That's all. I think you can start moving your belongings here while I get the futons."

"I'll help you out." Gon said as she walked pass them. She expressed her gratitude to him then both of them went upstairs.

"Man, why does she treat me like nuisance while she acts really nicely toward you two." Leorio threw his hands up in depression once the two was out of his sight. "She treats me as if I would steal something."

"Well, she might just hate you, Leorio the lecherous _old man_." Killua snickered.

"Oh, shut up!" Leorio groaned. He made a big mistake. Expressing his frustration to Killua would only make everything worse as the latter just heartlessly used the chance to toy with him.

"Lack of calcium, as always." Killua muttered as he put a lollipop into his mouth and started savoring the sweet. Well, it wasn't strange if the older guy didn't get the damsel's trust after what had happened earlier. From his point of view, Leorio had really looked like a lecher who had been about to take an advantage out of her after having acted like a righteous hero beforehand.

Speaking of which, she must be really strong for knocking Leorio out in one strike.

"Say, Ms. Kiara…" Gon started. The teen was standing by the door of the granny's room while the said blonde was taking out some reserve futons the elder kept in her closet.

"Just Kiara is fine," she said. Her back faced the door where he was while she was preoccupied with the futons. "And what is it?"

"Where did you learn martial arts?" His question caught her attention and made her turn to see him. Realizing that he had sounded suspicious, Gon quickly added. "I mean, I'm just curious. Previously you beat Leorio easily. It was just awesome."

She stared at his eyes as if she was searching for something hidden behind his innocent face. "It's just necessary for self-defense." She replied, though not really answering his question.

"You mean from the drunkards?" He noticed her eyes asking how he knew about that thus he continued. "My aunt and great-grandma also run a small bar at my hometown like you do. I've seen many drunkards tried to destroy our property since my childhood, though my great grandma always successfully sent them out of the shop with her broomstick."

"Your great-grandmother must be really healthy for her age." She laughed hearing his story, which made him felt relieved as the tension around them had decrease.

Actually, he had asked that particular question about martial arts because he was sure the way she had launched her kick resembled Kurapika's, which had been the reason why he had once mistaken her for his Kuruta friend. According to his discussion with Killua back then (Leorio had been still out at that time), if she was indeed a Kuruta it would be natural for her to have same martial arts style as Kurapika, and it was his task to find out.

"But that's not the sole reason. The drunkards here are pretty harmless, as most of them are local fishermen with low alcohol tolerance who drink too much every time they get stress," she said. "You see…"

Her words were cut by a loud crash sound coming from the bar bellow. Gon was startled by the sudden noise, while she just sighed and massaged the bridge of her nose.

"_Speaking of the devil."_

* * *

Killua and Leorio quickly dashed to the bar, followed by Gon and Kiara who ran downstairs as soon as they heard the commotion. The first thing they did was to make sure that the granny was alright. As they approach the eldery, they noticed that the bar was almost empty. It was strange because the bar should be crowded at this hour. They then caught a glimpse of a group of muscular, fierce-looking men standing at the front door. Stood among them was a woman clad in a revealing dress. She confidently stepped into the room; her high heels clicked on the floor as she approached the counter.

"My, my. I don't know you have grandsons as well, Madam Aria." Her voice sounded sugar-coated with sarcasm as she greet the bar hostess.

"They aren't. Although I'd be happy if they were." The granny replied calmly as if the men in front of her had looked harmless.

"Is that so?" The other woman laughed in a sickening manner as she flicked her auburn hair. "I presume they're just _another_ men attracted by our dear Ms. Kiara then? Oh my, young woman these days really know how to seduce men."

Kiara rolled her eyes. Wasn't it the other woman was the one who've been seducing every single man she met? She showed off her cleavage and the slit of her skirt obviously went too high up. She might be an eye candy for some lecherous men, but for Kiara and any other woman; she was just an eyesore who apparently didn't know how to dress up properly.

"Who is she?" Gon whispered to Kiara as he nudged her on the elbow.

"Madam Crystala, owner of a neighboring bar." She whispered back, loud enough for the other two to catch what she was saying.

"Hmm, I see. It seems that she's the reason why your customers' leaving." Killua commented as he eyed at Crystala's men. All of them were ugly, reminded him of the bluffing prisoner (he had never bothered to remember the name) he and his friends once had met in the Trick Tower. Even though they looked _rather_ strong, he dared to say that they were brainless.

"What bring you guys here this time?" The granny asked, ignoring the insult Crystala threw to her granddaughter.

"You see, we're here to collect what was supposed to be ours." Crystala answered.

"And what is it, if I may ask?"

"Don't play dump. I'm referring to the cargo that arrived this afternoon. I heard from one of my men your granddaughter stole it from us."

"Strange, I'm sure that we've order for it properly, it is definitely ours. Yours must have gotten mixed _somewhere_."

The two hostesses stared intensely at each other; neither of them was willing to lose in the arguments. Suddenly, one of those ugly and stupid looking men shouted out and stole everyone's attention. "AH! You're the man at the harbor!" He pointed at Leorio.

Leorio scratched his head. "Err, who?"

"Dammit! Don't you dare saying that you've forgotten what happened this afternoon!" The brute groaned.

Leorio looked at Killua then the younger guy told him that it was, apparently, the bully they had met at the harbor… The one who had retreated with his tail between his legs. "Oh, sorry. You know, I'm having some short-term memory lost right now." He laughed casually, making the brute even more agitated. The brute made his way toward Leorio then grabbed him by the collar.

"Don't fuck with me!"

"Wait!" The granny suddenly stepped in. "I won't allow you create any scene here." She looked at Leorio then at the brute then back at Leorio again. "I don't care if you want to struggle each other to death, just don't do it in my shop." True, if people started fighting here, it would be bad for her business.

"You hear that, bro." Leorio said as he tried to release himself from the brute's grasp. "Let's pay a respect to this lady and settle everything outside, shall we? Don't worry I won't run away."

"Ha! Like I care!" Instead of listening to Leorio's suggestion, the brute punched him on the face.

"Oh, I'm so sorry our men are kinda… hotheaded." Crystala giggled, covering her mouth with a fur-ornamented hand fan. There was no actual sorry in her voice. Her objective was, after all, to ruin the granny's shop. She didn't know that her man was nothing compared to Leorio. That's why, when suddenly the brute was knocked down onto the floor by an invisible punch, the smile on her face disappeared. Her jaw dropped, forming an idiotic gape on her heavily makeup-ed face.

After sending the brute meters away, breaking a table and some chairs in process, Leorio fixed his crocked tie while muttering several curses under his breath. Upon realizing the damage he caused, he quickly turned to the granny and apologized. "Sorry, I'll pay for that."

Madam Aria, the granny, could only sigh. She couldn't entirely blame Leorio as the youngster had tried to obey what she had said. It was the other man who had hit him first. Even though she also thought that the brute served some beating, the other brutes were now ready to assault.

"It's okay. We'll make sure everything'll be settled _outside_." Killua told the old lady. It was as if he could have read her solicitudes. He clenched and unclenched his fists several time to relax his muscles. Now, how long would it take? Three minutes? No, if he and Gon joined force together, one minute was more than enough. A smirk spread on his face. It had been a while since the last time they fight side to side, hadn't it?

"Killua." Gon called as he looked into his friend's blue orbs. The silverhead nodded to him. Both of them then dashed toward the brutes. They passed Crystala swiftly, like gust of wind. Gon pushed the men whose bodies were twice or trice of his size out of the shop, carefully without breaking the door or wall. Meanwhile, Killua took care of those who stood outside, cleanly knocked them off with his trademark sharp hits. In no time, around ten bodies lied unconsciously on the ground. They scattered around the bar's entrance as if they had been hit by some invisible catastrophes.

Crystala was shocked; her eyes were wide open as she saw her supporters getting beaten singlehandedly. She became speechless as if cat got her tongue. She then looked at Leorio, who stood between her and the counter where Granny Aria and Kiara were. "Who- Who are you? Bodyguards? How much they pay you? I'll pay you twice, no, thrice, if you work for me!" She started blabbering some nonsense about money and any other profits he and the other two would get in order to make them change their side.

"No, thanks. You know, Ma'am, there are things in this world that you can't acquire with money."

Her face reddened hearing this. "How dare you!" She raised her hand and slapped him. She then turned around and stomped away, leaving the bar as well as her useless grunts.

* * *

"_There are things in this world that you can't acquire with money._ Pfft, here I thought you were the one who always shipped money."

After they had gotten rid of the brute Leorio had beaten by throwing him outside, the granny chose to close the bar for the rest of the night. The guys then lent a hand to clean up the messes. They swept shreds of broken bottles and pieces of wood that were scattered on the floor. Just then, Killua decided to tease the older companion.

Leorio said nothing in reply while gritting his teeth. His face was apple red because of embarrassment. Why couldn't this brat spare his sanity for just one night, as if it hadn't been bad enough for him to get beaten up several times in a day? First he had been kicked, then punched, then slapped. Moreover, why must everyone have aimed on his face of all places? He hadn't checked it by himself, but he was sure the bruises all over his face had greatly damaged his handsome face.

"Here." Much to his surprise, Kiara offered him a damped handkerchief. At first he was startled by the sudden kindness she showed to him, then he became happy because he thought she had somehow warmed up to him. However, just as he was going to thanked her, she added. "Though, I'm doubt it'll be much help. In my eyes you look the same as ever."

Meaning that there wasn't any difference between his usual face and his beaten up face.

"You!" Leorio's rants were covered by Killua's loud laughter. The latter even crouched down and held his stomach thanked to the epic scene he had just witnessed.

Granny Aria smiled watching the three while Gon grinned helplessly. She then turned to the youngster who stood next to her. "You know, you boys surprised me. Who thought you were that strong?"

"Well," he rubbed the tip of his nose, feeling rather embarrassed hearing the flattery. "Although we look like this, we're actually licensed hunters."

"Hunters?" Her eyes slightly widened. He looked at her questioningly, wondering if he had said something wrong. She quickly added. "Oh, no. I'm just surprised that someone as young as you has already got a license. You must be really strong." She laughed off.

They talked about several other things for a while until he finally excused himself. "I'm going to take out the trashes."

It wasn't the first time people got surprised hearing that he was a hunter. It had been accruing for the past three years so he had been used to it. That's why; he mistakenly thought that her reaction was just the same as any other and failed to notice slight change in the elder's face.

* * *

**This ended up longer than I expected. Oh well, I hope you enjoyed it although it was rather cliché. Were the characters OOC?**

**I hope you don't hate the idea of naming this particular Kurapika look-alike (or just like everyone has guessed, the fem!Kurapika) "Kiara". It is an anagram of her original name; excluding P, U and the extra K. Aria and Crystala are names randomly invented by a friend of mine.**

**Next: The investigation begins as the three has obtained the perfect chance in their hand. However, what's with the sudden change in the granny's behavior? **

**Review please. Any form of critiques and suggestion are welcomed! **

**See ya!**


	4. III Tuesday

**Hello! Some of you might have noticed that now we have the second genre listed: friendship! Yup, instead of romance, I decided to focus more on the characters' friendship. For those who are eagerly expecting romance, don't feel disappointed yet! There still will be hints of pairings here. What the main pairing will be, well you'll still have to guess. So far, I've received several reviews concerning it. Let's see whether your wish come true or not ^^**

**Disclaimer: Hunter x Hunter belongs to its respective author.**

**As always, there might be a lot of typos and grammar errors. Feel free to send me any corrections! I'd also like to thank my dear friend who helped me fixing several things on the previous chapter. Kondo koso, yoroshiku~**

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**III**

**Tuesday**

The following night was quite peaceful regardless the commotion brought by Madam Crystala. After they made sure that the self-proclaimed rival wouldn't cause any trouble anymore, Kiara and her grandmother retreated to their respective rooms on the second floor while three guys, dub Gon, Killua and Leorio, occupied the temporary guestroom. The room was a little cramped because of the futons that had been arranged on the floor by Kiara beforehand, but it was comfortable enough considering that they were freeloaders here.

"I think it's best to leave her to Gon." Killua said, lowering his voice so that the ones upstairs couldn't hear their secret planning on investigating Kiara's real identity. The silverhead was lying on his stomach across the futons, resting his chin on his palm, while the other two sat in front of him.

"I second," Leorio nodded. "She treats Gon better than us… Well, at least better than _me_." He made a face. Up until now, he hadn't successfully engaged in a real conversation with her even once. Every time he had tried to talk to her, she would have either replied with sarcastic remarks or simply ignored him.

"I have no objection but…" Gon paused for a while. He crossed his arms and mused. "I wonder if I can do it well. I mean, I've almost got caught once." He referred to the time he had asked her about her martial arts ability. At that time, instead of getting an answer, he had made himself sound suspicious.

"It'll be okay. Even if she finds out, it's not like we have ill intention or such. We just want to know whether she's from Kuruta clan or not." Killua reassured.

"I guess you're right." Gon lips curved upward, forming a smile. Killua was right. None of them had bad intention so there was no need to be afraid. They would only need to explain their true intention if by any case they got caught. He was sure she would understand.

If that so, why didn't they just simply explain everything to her from the beginning? Wouldn't it be better than sneaking around like this?

"Say, Killua, why don't we just directly ask her if she's related to the Kuruta clan or not?"

"It's no good. She might just lie to us." Killua shook his head. "If she is indeed a Kuruta and aware of it, I'm sure she knows the danger that is after her life. Logically, there's no reason for her to leak such a crucial thing to a stranger like us."

"Killua got the point. In my opinion, the most effective way is to gather the pieces of information by ourselves. We'll confirm it to her after we finished the _puzzle_." Leorio added. He and Killua looked at Gon for a while. The boy said nothing. It looked like he was trying to set his mind that this was indeed the best way they could do of for the moment.

Seeing that Gon didn't have any objection anymore, Killua continued on the planning. "I'll try to dig some information from the granny. If Kiara is a Kuruta, she also has a high probability of being one."

"I'll try to talk with the villagers then. They might have seen or heard something important we don't know yet."

As Leorio finished his statement, the three of them exchange glanced. The plan has been initialized and they were going to carry it out when the next dawn came. There wasn't any guarantee that it would work out well so they could only wish the best for each of them. Feeling that they didn't have anything to discuss any further, they decided they would call it a day. They turned off the light and, after exchanging goodnights, drifted off into slumber.

* * *

The next morning, Gon woke up late. He intentionally did it so that people wouldn't find it strange to see them acting on their own. Killua was in the shop helping out the old lady while Leorio had went outside, saying that he had wanted to get some fresh morning air or such. And here Gon was; waiting for Kiara, who had gone to the local market early in the morning, while having his breakfast really slowly.

"Ah, Kiara! Good morning!" Gon cheerfully greeted as the person he had been waiting for finally arrived. She entered the kitchen through the backdoor, holding a rattan basket covered with a piece of handkerchief in one hand with a bouquet of flowers in the other hand. She wore similar clothes like she had done yesterday: long sleeved shirt, sleeveless outer shirt with high collar, long satin skirt and leather boots. Her golden crown was braided into two twin tails, revealing simple, single-pearl earring on each ear.

"Good morning. Did you sleep well?" The young woman questioned as she put the groceries on the table where he was sitting at.

"Yes, I did. I even overslept." He grinned sheepishly.

She chuckled. "You must be tired due to what happened yesterday. You can take a rest if you want. "

"No, no. It's okay." He raised his hands. "I'm fine now. Sides, I want to help out too."

"If you feel you need to work in exchange of staying here, I think it's unnecessary," she smiled at him. "What you did for us yesterday was more than enough. Thanks to you, we were able settle it down without much loss on our side."

He was dazed for a while because her smile suddenly reminded him of Kurapika. It wasn't only the appearance; their voice, the way they speak, the way they act, even their smiles were so similar. Sometimes he felt like it was the real Kurapika who stood in front of him. He watched her taking a clear glass vase from a cabinet, and then filled it with water. She carefully untied the bouquet and put the red flowers into the vase.

"They're so pretty." He absentmindedly muttered.

"Indeed." She replied as she rearranged the roses. The thorn had been plucked beforehand so that they didn't hold any harm to her delicate fingers.

Suddenly an idea popped in his head.

"Be careful, there might be caterpillars hiding among the leaves. Your hands'll become itchy if you touch them." He said.

"It's okay. I'm quite sure there're none of them." She replied.

"Hmm…" He hummed. "Say, do you hate caterpillar?"

"Not really."

"I see," he paused for a while. He tapped his chin and made a thinking pose. "What about other bugs? Cockroach? Centipede? _Spider_?"

"Nothing in particular. They do look gross though."

He nodded as he memorizing the new information he got. She hadn't showed any significant change when she had heard the word _spider_. He thought that if she was a Kuruta, she must at least know that alias. That was, of course, if she knew that she was one.

"What's about it?" She asked back. This time she had done with the flowers and was looking at him straight into the eyes. Just like before, her cerulean blue eyes seemed like they were searching for something in his.

He nervously gulped. Uh-oh, not those eyes again.

It seemed that he should refrain from asking any further question for the time being…

* * *

Meanwhile, Killua was having a hard time finding the right opportunity to (secretly) interrogate the granny. The two of them were working in silence. He was wiping off some old glasses to replace the broken ones due the commotion last night while she was preparing to open the shop. Strange, he thought. She was awfully silence compared to how she had been yesterday. He stole a glance at the senior lady and noticed that her wrinkled forehead was slightly frowned; it was as if she was musing about something. It might be simply about the (seemingly) bad relationship between her and the woman that had paid a visit yesterday, but the timing was off. If he recalled correctly, she had suddenly changed shortly after the clean up last night. If it was only because of the quarrel between the two, the granny must have been down right after the assault instead.

Had something else happened during the clean up then? He scowled as he couldn't remember anything significant. It was too bad that he hadn't paid much attention at her. Had he talked to her along with Gon instead of laughing at Leorio, he might have discovered something.

Wait, Gon must know something. It was really stupid of him. He should have realized it earlier. Alright, he just needed to question Gon later. He tried to shake of the unnecessary worry and focus on his task to gather any necessary information from her. That was his priority for now. He was sure the others had started on their own and he didn't want to be the only one left behind.

The question was: what should he do to break the ice?

"I'm done here." He said in a cheery voice, trying to gain her attention.

"Oh." She seemed a little taken aback when his voice suddenly break the silence between them. "Thank you for helping."

"It's nothing."He stretched his arms and leaned back on his chair. "But, you know, I never imagined running a store like this would be really tiresome… and you managed to do it despise your age." He then changed his position. He leaned forward and placed his hands on the counter table. He rested his cheek on a hand.

"Is that so? Perhaps it's because we're already used to." She replied.

"Hmm…" He slightly nodded. "By the way, you and Kiara live only by the two or you, right? Where's her parents? Do they work abroad?"

She inhaled sharply as if the question had just struck her like a jolt of lightning. "They've… passed away."

Suddenly the air around them became heavy and he felt awkward. "Sorry."

"It's okay." She shook her head. Strands of her gray hair swayed as she did so.

He bit his lower lips because of the unproductive situation. Somehow he needed to change the topic. "Is there anything else I can do?" He said referring to the opening preparation.

"No, it's fine. We usually don't have many customers in the morning. Why don't you catch up you're your friend, Leorio and walk around the village?" She suggested.

"I'll do that." He stood up from his chair and walked toward the exit door. He was about to opened the door when he turned around and walked back to her. "Say, where's good place to explore?"

"Eh?" She blinked in confusion hearing his question.

"You've lived here for a long time, right? That's why I think I'd just follow your suggestion instead of strolling around without a definite destination." He reasoned up as he casually shoved his hands into his baggy shorts' pockets.

She thought for a while before answering. "Actually there isn't any. This is just a small village after all. I'm also afraid that you'll get bored if you stay here too long. However, I heard that the nearby town is beautiful. It's located on the sole mountain in this island; you'll be able to get 360 degree view of the island up there. There's even a resort with hot spring. I'm sure that you'll find it more entertaining than here. If you pack up now, you'll arrive there before the sunset."

Even though she looked like she was genuinely suggesting a better place, for him she sounded like she wanted them to leave this place as soon as possible. It was contradicting to what she had said previously, that they may have stayed there as long as they want. Just what was wrong with this eldery?

Nevertheless, he needed to play along with her. "Sounds interesting. I'll talk about it with Leorio and Gon." She looked slightly relieved hearing his reply and this made him suspected here even more. There must be something behind her strange behavior.

Just then, Kiara and Gon walked into the bar. The granny's attention entirely diverted to her granddaughter, who at that time was placing the flowers she brought on the counter. Killua and Gon used this chance to exchange whatever information they had gotten so far.

"How're you doing?" Killua asked as Gon seated next to him. He carefully chose his words so that it wouldn't make himself sound suspicious to the ladies. Gon just shrugged in reply. From this, Killua knew that his friend was also having a hard time. He side-glanced at Granny Aria and Kiara; they seemed still preoccupied by their conversation regarding the flowers. He was sure it would be even more difficult to question them once the store was open. After pondering on what would be good to do next, he turned back to Gon. "Gon, let's go find Leorio."

"Eh? Uhm, sure." The other guy replied. The two then excused themselves by saying that they wanted to look for Leorio.

* * *

Since early in the morning, Leorio had been strolling around the village. He went into several shops and bars, engaged himself in several conversations with the locals, mostly old fishermen that had just come back from the sea. It was quite easy. He sat next to them, bought them drinks and asked them questioned once they had warmed up to him. Thanks to the Jennies he spent, he learned some information on Kiara and her grandmother. They were quite popular among the villagers, in a good way. Even thought they were often engaged in some quarrels with Crystala, they were mostly started by the latter. Crystala seemed to dislike the two because lately their bar had more customers than hers. Kiara was also one of a few youngsters that stayed in the village while most of people around her age usually left to bigger towns and cities. It was presumably because she had to take care of her grandmother.

He was now in the fourth or fifth bar – he didn't really counted how many places he had visited up until now – and sat with two old men whose age was around thrice of his. Just like before, he bought the two drinks and soon they started laughing together as if they were old friends.

"Oh, so you're interested in that lass?" One of them said, half-laughing half-hiccupping due to the alcohol.

"She's sure pretty. But it'll be a tough competition." The other stroked his grey, fuzzy beard. "Most of younglings here got a crush on her. I also heard she even has a secret admirer who constantly sends her flowers. No one knows how he looks like but we call him Tuesday-guy since he sends flowers every Tuesday."

"I see…" Leorio forced a laugh. Honestly, he wasn't interested in her personal love life. It wasn't like he was going after her anyway.

Judging by the redness of these geezers' face, they would be completely out of their mind soon. Well, let's call it a failure. It was better for him to find another target. He excused himself from the elders, who looked disappointed when he did so. (Well, they were drunk. He was pretty sure they wouldn't even remember his face once they recovered.) He got up and took his suit that was hung on the back of his chair. He approached the counter, asking for the bill to the bartender. He paid for the old men's drinks and gave the bartender tips, then exited the shop.

As soon as he left the bar, he was greeted by the sun that was almost in its highest position. He scowled because of the sudden intensity his eyes received. He placed a hand over his forehead to cover his eyes from the sunlight and looked around. Where should he go next, he mentally questioned. He gazed on a watch he wore on his right wrist; it was almost lunch time. Should he visit a restaurant or should he go back to the granny's shop?

"Leorio!" He heard Gon's voice calling off him. He turned around to see his comrade… However, guess what he saw?

Gon was holding a double scoop ice cream cone while the sweet-toothed Killua had a quadruple scoop one that seemed like a colorful tower: pink, green, chocolate and orange from top to bottom in respective order.

"The hell are you doing?" Leorio snapped out. How dare these two having their elevenses while he had to go around the entire village, pouring drinks (literally) to some old geezers.

Unknowing to them, thousands miles away from where Leorio was rampaging because of some mere ice creams, a certain event occurred between ten limbs of spider and its ex-member…

* * *

It was on the other side of the world. The sky was pitch black with neither moon nor star. The cold evening wind blew on the sandy surface of the desert at the outskirt of Meteor City. A figure appeared in the middle of nowhere. A thin cloak covered his body, revealing only his flame-like hair that looked almost dark gray due to the lack of light. His steps were barely audible among the whirl of wind as he walked toward a sole building that stood among ruins. The building itself looked like it would crumble apart anytime.

As soon as the man entered the building, he was greeted by a shower of nen bullets. Without much effort he avoided every single of them.

"Such a warm welcoming I get here." His thin lips formed an evil smirked that would give any normal person a goosebumps. Nevertheless, the ones that resided that particular building were nowhere near normal.

Several figures, men and women, came out from the shadow.

"What do you want?" Asked one of them who was clad in Japanese robe. He seemed quite agitated by the presence of the first person.

"My, my." Hisoka said in amusement seeing half of the Spider had feel into their defensive-offensive stance. Some of them had even prepared their _weapons_: Nobunaga's hand was on his reinforced sword; Franklin was ready to launch another horde of nen bullets out of his finger; and Phinks was clenching his right fist while stretching the muscles on his shoulder. Next to them, though unseen, Feitan and Machi were also prepared to fight.

"I ask: what do you want?" Nobunaga repeated, stressing on every single words that came out from his mouth.

Hisoka raised his hands, gesturing that he didn't mean any harm, though the creepy smirk never left his face. "I'm just wanna know if _someone_ is home or not."

"If you mean Danchou, he isn't here." Machi answered.

"Heh, it's just too bad that you're run out of your luck." Feitan mocked.

"Is that so?" Hisoka smile turned into a pout, which was obviously only an act. "Ow, and yet I thought I could finally have a match with him."

"Wait, you mean you haven't fought him yet?" Shalnark asked. He was standing among the non-offensive group along with Shizuku, Kalluto, Kortopi, and Bonolenov.

Hisoka placed his hands on the hips and shook his head, while still maintaining the fake pout. "He never contacted me either even thought he promised to reward me a match after settling your little revenge-business with the chain-dude. Had I known that this would happen, I wouldn't have let you feed my dear Kuruta friend to that demonic vacuum cleaner."

"Eh? What do you mean?" Shizuku blinked innocently. "I don't remember ordering Deme-chan to ea-"

"Shizuku," Machi called off. "It's useless to recall what you don't remember."

Hisoka just rolled his eyes seeing his ex-comrade's oh-so-nostalgic antics. Feeling that none of them would ever entertain him, he decided to leave and turned on his heel.

"What are you planning to do?" Franklin asked in interrogative tone. His fingers were still pointed at the suspicious, self-proclaimed magician.

"Well, Chrollo isn't here so there's no use to stay." Hisoka explained the obvious. The Troupe members' face darkened once they heard him calling their leader by the name without paying any respect. Nevertheless, he ignored them and left.

There was an unproductive silence among the Spider's limbs after Hisoka disappeared into the darkness of the night. They were deep in their thought and didn't bother to talk to each other. It was Shizuku who broke the silence as she absentmindedly mumbled. "I really don't remember…"

The other members exchanged glances. Without saying anything they active their nen to check their surrounding with En, in case Hisoka was still around and listening to their conversation. After they were quite sure that he had completely gone, they finally responded to the bespectacled woman's musing.

"No wonder you don't remember," Feitan began. "As the chain-assassin wasn't eaten by your nen-vacuum-cleaner on the first place."

Shizuku crocked her head to the side in confusion. Seeing this, Shalnark decided to explain. "You don't kill him. None of us did. Danchou was supposed to be the one who killed him."

"Something's not right." Machi frowned as she tapped her chin in thinking pose.

Everyone looked at the transmutter lady; hearing this from her meant anything but good thing. "Is it your intuition again?" Nobunaga asked.

She looked at the samurai, then to the others. There was a slightest hint of uneasiness in her eyes. "Yeah."

That very short answer that came out from Machi's lips would soon change the Spider's life.

* * *

**I don't understand why this ended up even longer than the previous chapter.**

**Next: The Spider started doubting Kurapika's death, but Gon and co. was still far from solving the mystery behind Kiara's existence. Would they do it in time? **

**I wish to hear your voice, everyone. I want to know what you feel about this chapter. Do you like it? Or do you felt unsatisfied instead? Any suggestion? Or perhaps prediction on further chapter? Anything is fine~ so please DO review. *puppy eyes* Cookies for those who review!  
**

**On other note, I made a poll in my profile just for fun. It's about what pairing you expect to see the most. Please drop by and vote if you have time ^^**


	5. IV Contact

**Hello guys~ Chapter IV is here :D I'd like to thank 361, kirukura, RabuRuka-sama, AUehara, TomatoLove, Guest-san #1, Guest-san #2, and Alicia Blue who've reviewed last time! We've reached 20 reviews now :D**

**The vote is still open. Whoops! We have a tough competition between Killua and Chrollo here! On other note, I've posted some drawings in my profile in case you want to know how Granny and the other characters look like~**

**Disclaimer: Hunter x Hunter © Togashi Yoshihiro-sensei.**

**As usual, typos and grammatical error warnings. Anyone interested in beta-reading?**

**Enjoy! :)**

* * *

**IV**

**Contact**

There was nothing but a busy signal on the other line of the phone. Shalnark held his phone away from his ear as he sighed at his nth failed try on contacting the Spider's head. If there was anything, it would be only the message from the phone company saying that the phone is out of service. He placed his hand over his mouth, pressing the phone in his hand against the upper lips, and mused. How long had it been since the last time he, or any other member of the Troupe, had been in contact with their leader? Several months? A year? Two years? When had been it precisely?

Had been it the day when they had assault the Nostrades?

Yes, it had been. Shalnark's memory capacity was as good as computer's and he held a great pride on it. There was no way he would misremembered such a crucial thing. He looked at his comrades. They were also as restless as him. Closing his emerald green eyes, he tried to recall every single detail on what had happened back then.

_Right, at that time…_

* * *

Two years ago, after a long waiting, finally Chrollo contacted his Troupe. It wasn't a direct one, only a short message they received through Abengane the Shaman, but it was enough to make even the most silent one among the rejoiced.

_Tomorrow noon. All members at the Nostrades in Twebinnen. _

With that single, short and incomplete order, the Spider obediently gathered to the destined place. They even arrived early, as they were eager to see him back in his glory. And not to mention, sending them to the Nostrades meant that they would soon get their revenge on the chain-assassin.

Eleven o'clock. One hour prior to Neon Nostrade and her bodyguards' scheduled arrival.

"Where's Danchou? Why does he take it so long?" Nobunaga grumbled impatiently as he looked around. He did this every five minutes since their arrival even though everyone knew that _they_ were the one who were too early. Well, everyone besides him. Some of them starting to get pissed because of the constant annoyance he caused but none of them bothered to tell him to shut up as he would never shut up on the first place. Although, Feitan and Phinks would have been really glad if Machi sewn Nobunaga's mouth instead. Too bad that the woman didn't give a damn. She was _too_ used to Nobunaga's rant, perhaps because she often got paired up with him during missions.

The other members who were immune to disturbance focused their selves on watching their surroundings. At the moment, they were hiding in the bushes in the backyard of the Nostrades' villa, avoiding the mafia guards and surveillance cameras. It wasn't like they were afraid of the family, heck they had once fought against the entire community, but they preferred to avoid any unnecessary clash before their leader came.

Time seemed to move slowed than usual while they were waiting. Nobunaga's another rant signed that only five minutes had passed. Lucky for them, Chrollo was an in time person. Suddenly they felt a presence near them. It was so sudden that it looked like the person had suddenly appeared out of thin air. Not even their En could detect him before he was this close. They held their breath as they saw a figure clad in black appeared behind a three. His black hair was slicked back, revealing a cross-shaped tattoo on the forehead. His leather, fur trimmed long coat rustled against the bushes as he walked toward them in soundless steps. The aura around him was tranquil yet deadly.

"Danchou!" Some of them cheered as they recognized him. Some other smirked, mentally noting on how perfect his In was. Nevertheless, this showed that he had fully regained his accessibility toward Nen, proving that he had broken away from the chain-assassin's _curse_.

Chrollo himself looked amused observing the expression of each of his comrades. There were joy and relief reflected on their faces. Normal people would never have had the idea that these S-ranked criminals could have emitted those positive feelings. Of course, there were still slight hints of mischievousness, evil, hunger and bloodlust in their eyes.

"The order?" The January asked in place of his deceased fellow, November.

"Take all of the collection. Kill everyone that interferes." The head's cold smile made everyone shivered, not in scare but in ecstasy. This was what they had been waiting for: the Spider's back in action. They would once again show the world that they were unstoppable and unbeatable, and this time, they acted openly, like a storm that suddenly hit on a clear day.

In a split second, they dashed toward the building in inhuman speed, leaving only shadow-like afterimage. The guards were too slow to follow their movement and before they could reach their guns, they all have lost their lives. They made their blood-drenched way to the study room in the highest level of the building and found Light Nostrade there. The guards there fought to protect their boss but they ended up dying in vain like the others. Seeing how powerless he was against the Troupe, the old man begged for his live.

"Where's the treasure?" Chrollo asked in cold tone.

"I- In the b- basement." Light stuttered. His face was pale, as white as the papers that were scattered on the floor due to the fight. "P- Please spare my-" The mafia boss couldn't finish his line as he was suddenly back-stabbed right through the heart by a long metal stick.

"Pathetic." Feitan scoffed as he pulled out his bloody cane sword from the dead body.

"H- How dare you!" A guard who was on the verge of dead but apparently still had his last strength within him shouted. He took out several hand grenades from his suit's pockets and launched them to Feitan but the small man dodged them easily. The grenades hit some bookshelves instead and the explosion started fire.

"How troublesome." Machi monotonously commented as she reduced the hopeless guard's neck into a size of a pen.

"Indeed it is." Chrollo replied as he watched the fire quickly spread and burned other furniture in the room. They then went outside the room; only to found that the now-headless-mafia there were setting another fire around them, desperately trying to burn the intruders to death. Swiftly, Franklin sent out his Nen bullets and disabled them. He intentionally left them alive, turning them into the first ones to taste the fire they had set up by their own hands.

When they went downstairs and reached the first level, the fire had already consumed several parts of the building. It seemed that the leftover members of the family had also started suicidal fire on different parts of this place. It would have been troublesome if the fire reached the collection room below. They split up and began searching for the entrance to the basement. After a while, they finally found it but the flame had completely surrounded them.

It was the time when they noticed an unknown murderous aura. Someone went inside the burned building. What kind of fool would do so even if he knew a group of S-class criminals were also there?

"The chain-assassin!" Nobunaga quickly deduced. He sheathed his sword and changed his stance, getting ready to attack the enemy. However, Chrollo stepped in front of him and raised a hand, asking him to retreat.

"Let me handle him. You guys take the treasures out as quickly as possible." He said.

Nobunaga was about to protest when Franklin dragged him away. Feitan only shook his head to him, silently telling him not to oppose the leader. The other limbs obediently followed them to the entrance Kortopi had previously found. They did so because they knew that, among them, their leader must be the one who was yearning to kill the chain-assassin the most.

"Shalnark." The leader called off.

The said guy stopped on his steps and turned around. "Yes, Danchou?"

"I'll leave the trade to you," Chrollo said. By the trade he meant the underground trade where they sold the swags. "And make sure Shizuku do her usual job."

"Roger." Shalnark replied before he ran to catch up with the others. He only caught a glimpse of the blonde Kuruta before he went to the basement. Afterward, he and the others were busy moving out the treasures through a hole they made as a shortcut to the outside. It took longer than he had predicted, as some of the treasures were human-sized coffins and by the time Shizuku finished her _usual job_ – cleaning up the mafia's dead bodies – both Chrollo and the chain-assassin had disappeared.

* * *

At that time, Shanlark hadn't thought why Chrollo had ordered Shizuku to clean up the corpses. Had it been simply to show the world that anyone who had been against the Spider would have been reduced to nothing, just like what they had done back then in Yorknew City, or had it been… to camouflage so that no one would have noticed that a person is missing?

"Why would Danchou do that?" Franklin questioned as Shalnark shared his thought.

Phinks nodded. He agreed with the big man next to him. "Right, there was no reason for him to protect that chain-dude."

"It's only an assumption. A what-if case." Shalnark shrugged.

"Are you saying that Danchou's turning himself into a _Judas_?" Feitan grimaced.

Shalnark gulped as he felt Feitan's murderous aura raised. He quickly raised his hands. "T- That's why I say it's only an assumption. It's not like I'm accusing him or something." The short man glared at him before he turned his face away. 'Oh man, why must he take it too seriously…' Shalnark thought as he sighed heavily.

"Still, I think there must be a connection between that chain-dude and Danchou. They both _disappeared_ on the same time." Machi said as she tapped her fingers on the chin.

"Say, the last time we saw Danchou was before he fought that chain-assassin, right?" Kalluto suddenly spoke in. It was rare to see the twelve years old boy opened his mouth so the other members turned to see him and waited for him to continue. "What if… What if Danchou was the one who died instead?"

Everyone went silent. They only gawked at him as if he had just talked in an alien language. Nobunaga was the first one who broke the silence. Surprisingly, he laughed instead of getting mad. "No way!" He walked to Kalluto then patted the boy's head, much to the latter's annoyance. "Well, since you're new you haven't had the chance to see Danchou's strength. But believe me; he's very strong and completely out of our league. I doubt we'll ever win against him even though we put our strengths together. There's no way he would lose to someone like that chain-dude in a battle."

"Eh, but chain-dude was also the only person who succeeded in disabling Chrollo." Suddenly a voice rang in the air. It was none of theirs. Everyone were quickly on guarded and searched for the source of the voice, but they found no one. They narrowed their search, focused on where the sound had come from and found _it._ It came from a shady, empty spot near the entrance of the building they were in. Though unseen, they were sure that someone must be there.

Knowing that his presence has been discovered, as he had leaked it out by himself on the first place, the intruder decided to reveal himself. The air around the empty spot the Spider had been watching on began to distort and change into a veil of white cloth. He grabbed the rim of the cloth that covered his body, pulled it and threw it into the air.

"Hisoka!" Some of the members gasped and widened their eyes as they saw the red haired man. Some other only flinched, but it was clear that they too were surprised by the magician's presence. It streaked them by how he had been able to step into their En circles without being caught. Could it be that this person was now a step nearer to their leader's level?

"Since when are you here? How did you-?"

"Well, I felt a sudden massive aura of your En so I thought something fun must be going on and went back here. Hm, all I hear was a boring story though," Hisoka explained as he faked a yawn. "As for how I did my trick, it's s-e-c-r-e-t."

Hisoka secret was simply an advance level of his Texture Surprise. He casted his Nen around his cloak, changed its appearance according to the surrounding and made it look as if it turned invisible. It was similar to how chameleon disguised itself. The lack of light there was also a key factor to this trick. Of course, it needed a mastership of In so that he had been unnoticeable before nen-users who used En and Gyo.

"But well, thanks to you now I've found something to do. I'd just look for Kurapika instead of Chrollo." He continued. He then turned around and was about to walk away when he glanced back at them. He smirked. "Care to join?" The Ryodan only glared at him in reply. He couldn't help chuckling seeing how tense they were now. "I get it as _no_?"

The Spider stared at the doorless entrance Hisoka had just passed by and disappeared beyond. Had he really gone this time? They didn't know. They hope so though, as he brought nothing but annoyance for them.

"Say, Danchou got a lot of abilities, right? Isn't it possible that he also has one that's like mine?"

It was Shizuku again who absentmindedly talked her thought out loud as if she didn't really care about Hisoka's appearance and disappearance before them. Nevertheless, her statement made sense. It made so much sense. Why hadn't they thought about it before? As a skill hunter, Chrollo Lucilfer had a lot of Nen skills listed in his book. It's really possible for him to kill the chain-assassin without trace, and then just had gone away as he hadn't had any business anymore there. Besides, it wasn't the first time he disappeared. In fact, he always disappeared and was out of reach after their missions ended.

But what's about Machi's intuition?

* * *

"Ah, I'm beat!" Leorio whined as he dropped his body onto a chair. Gon and Killua who sat down in front of him also sighed in exhaustion.

For the several last hours, they had been walking around the village to gather information on Kiara as much as they could. So far no luck. They only got similar ones like her good reputation there again and again. There was none that could be a hint of her origin as a Kuruta. Moreover, from what Gon and Killua had gotten previously, she seemed to have a _real_ family (with parents and a grandmother) and didn't hate spider. Could it be that she was really unrelated to the tribe?

"I'm hungry." Gon pouted as he rubbed his stomach. Just now he had heard it growling.

"In that case, we should've entered a restaurant or café, not _another_ bar." Killua scowled. He was laying his head on a table between him and Leorio; his cheek was against the wooden surface of the table. "Ugh, I'm getting sick of the smell of alcohol."

"Well then, let's make it the last time and go to find something to eat next." Gon suggested.

"Yeah…" Killua lazily shifted his head. He was now looking at Leorio while his head was now supported with his chin. "Oldman, you go."

"Why me?" The older guy protested.

"Aren't you better at this?"

"Well, yeah, but…"

Their conversation was cut when someone approached them.

"Oh my, guess who we got here? It's Aria's men." Crystala said, still in sickening sweet voice. This bar must be hers then. Well, such a misfortunate. "Well, could it be that you guys have changed your mind and decide to work for me instead?" She asked while lowering her head so that her gaze was on the same height as Leorio.

"Err, no.. It's just… We're just…" Leorio severely blushed because her face was now really close to his. Killua just rolled his eyes seeing this. It was obvious that she was trying to seduce Leorio. He thought it was better for them to get out of this place as soon as possible, but Gon thought otherwise.

"Say, ma'am, why do you hate Granny Aria so much?" The boy asked. The older woman straightened her back and placed her arms on the hips.

"Isn't it obvious?" She huffed. "She's ruining my business here! Look around and see how many customers have lessened! That old hag takes advantage of her granddaughter and uses the young-lady-charm to seduce my customers."

'Oh, so you're admitting that you're old.' Killua mentally mocked as he rolled his eyes. Seducing? He was sure Kiara wasn't that low, not to mention that she had the tendency to knock out any man who invaded her personal space and dub them as lecher.

"I've been running this shop for years since it was inherited to me by my parents and it is supposed to be the best bar in this village for generations. But that old hag came here two years ago and ruined everything."

Killua's eyes widened; he suddenly showed interest in this matter. He lifted his head then asked. "Wait, you say two years ago?"

"Hm, you don't know?" Crystala asked back. "They moved in around two years ago. The old hag opened her shop shortly after that. Her granddaughter wasn't seen until five or six months later though." She shrugged uncaringly.

'Two years ago? Isn't it too much for a coincidence?' Killua thought. He exchanged looked with his friends. They seemed to have noticed it as well. Kurapika had died two years ago and around the same time, Kiara and her grandmother had moved into this village. Could there be any relevancy between these two events? And why had Kiara needed to take such a long span before she had made her appearance here? Had been there something that prevented her to show up in the public at that time being?

Finally, they found a red thread that might lead them to the truth.

* * *

**Kyaa! It's done! I can't believe I wrote this all only in one day XD I think I did this pretty well, with flashback on Genei Ryodan and finally *fanfares* Gon and co. (or should I say it Killua and co?) found a piece of crucial information which will lead them to Kiara's real identity. I hope this chapter satisfied you! **

**Next: Now that the group had found something that might relate Kiara to Kurapika, would they find out the truth soon? On the other hand, Hisoka the cunning magician had also started to look for her! Who would _find_ her first? The Hunter Trio or Hisoka?**

**Now, a little side talks on this chapter. How do you like Hisoka's new skill I've invented? It took me some time to research on his canonical ability and search for a crack to fill in *kinda proud* ^^ Well, two years have passed so it won't be strange for the characters to have new abilities, right? I may also give new skills to the others as well~**

**And now, suggestion time! *insert dramatics BGM here* Do you have any idea on what Leorio's new skill should be? You see, Togashi-sensei has only given him an unnamed warping punch during the New Chairman Election Arc. so I think he deserve more… and it's YOURS to decide! Suggest a new move for him and a little description on how it works. You may also suggest as many as you want. I'll choose one/some and use it/them on later chapters where we will see him fighting :D**

**So, people, review and suggest! Don't forget that the vote is still open~ Visit my profile as well to see how Granny Aria and Crystala look like. I've also posted a parody drawing on the investigation Gon and co. did!**

**Bye and see you next week! *hyper waves***


	6. V Guest

**Good evening~! (Or morning, or afternoon, anything…)**

**Thank you for last chapter's reviewers: AUehara, X-MelodiesOfTheSakuraTree-X, Alicia Blue, Guest-san, 361, kirukura, Ty, and RabuRuka-sama. I'm so happy receiving your piece of thought~ ^^ I'd also like to thank those who've faved and/or alerted this particular story.**

**News on the poll: Killua and Danchou (I feel weird calling him by name) are still tied, followed by Leorio on the third place! Wow, I didn't expect there would be this many votes! XD Anyhow, thanks for those who've participated~ ^^**

**Now let's proceed to the story, shall we?**

**The usual disclaimer: Hunter x Hunter and its characters belong to Togashi Yoshihiro-sensei.**

**Grammatical errors, typos… I've warned ya!**

* * *

**V**

**Guest**

"Two years ago, huh?" Gon mused. He was sitting by an opened window that let the evening breeze blew into the cubicle he and his friends occupied. He rested his head on the frame and gazed on the scenery outside. The once-blue sky was now painted in beautiful orange hue. The sun was setting by the sea. Half of the luminous circle went down into the water as if it was sinking. The air was filled with seagulls' song that could be heard among the roar of the high tides. The shipping activity at the port had ended, only several fishermen stayed there, preparing for tonight's sailing.

Killua heard Gon's mumble and glanced at the black haired teen. He knew what his friend was thinking about, as he was also thinking on the same matter. _Two years ago_, plus a few days, that was when Kurapika passed away during his confrontation with the Phantom Troupe. Oddly enough, Kiara and Granny Aria moved in to this village around that time. Was it just a coincidence? A coincidence that on the same time, a person disappeared and the look-alike appeared? Was there such _a coincidence_?

Nevertheless, this was nothing but strengthening his suspicion that Kurapika and Kiara were the same person. However, there was no strong evidence yet. He still hadn't solved the mystery about the Granny's compromising act either.

"Say, Gon…" he called out. The said guy turned away from the window and looked at him. "What did you and the granny talked about last night?"

Gon looked at Killua questioningly. "What about it?" Killua then told him and Leorio about how he had found that she had been acting fishy. She had been acting as if she had wanted them to leave as soon as possible. He also explained his suspicion that it was probably related to Gon's conversation with her on the previous night. Whatever they had had at that time, it must have made her uncomfortable having them around. Gon crossed his arms and started thinking. His dark brown eyes narrowed as he frowned. "I told her that I was from the Whale Island and that Aunt Mito and my great grandma also run a bar like her…" He tried to recall his memory on that particular time. "Then I told her stories about various rare animals I met during my jobs."

"Wait, did you told her that you're a beast hunter?" Killua cut in.

"Well, I told her that the three of us are hunters. She didn't seem to buy it though. That's why I told her about the animals." Gon shrugged.

Killua's cat-like eyes widened when he received the piece of information. 'This must be it!' He thought.

Leorio, who had been listening to them in silence, realized the change in the silverhead's face and asked. "What's about it?"

"I think… I think this must be the reason why she's acting strange." Killua answered.

"But, is there any reason why she should do so? She's not a criminal and we aren't blacklist hunters either. Moreover, didn't Gon tell her that he's a beast hunter?" said Leorio.

"Then isn't it possible to just say that she doesn't like hunters in general?"

"Why would she?"

"Kurapika," Killua started. The other two tensed up when he mentioned that name. "He was a hunter. _If _he and Kiara are indeed related, and the Granny knows both about this and his job, _and_ she is hiding the truth about Kurapika and Kiara… Isn't it normal for her to be bewildered when she finds out that we are hunters just like him? Besides, we already told her that Kiara looked like _a friend of us_."

Leorio's mouth shaped into a big O as he speechlessly raised his point finger to Killua.

"Doesn't it mean that she might be suspicious that we are suspecting that the similarities between Kurapika and Kiara are to suspici..?" Gon suddenly felt dizzy because of the overused of _suspicious_ words in his line.

"Well, either way we still need to confirm whether the two of them are related or not, or perhaps, the same person…" Killua stated.

"But Kurapika was a guy and Kiara is a girl. How can the two of them be the same person?" Gon asked.

"Was there any prove that he was a he?" Leorio asked. The other two exchanged looks, then after a while, they looked back at him and shook their head. "Is there any prove that she was a she?" The two shook their head again. "Well then, I know a way to find out about this."

"No, no, no. Just NO, Leorio. I know what you are thinking." Killua was suddenly bewildered for a reason Gon didn't know why. "For God's sake, you'll only get us kicked out from here, or worse: murdered!"

"But this is the most effective way," Leorio insisted. "Plus, we can also find out whether she's a Kuruta or not with this. Shouldn't the eyes turned red when a Kuruta is angry? You can call this: killing two birds with a stone." He ended his _reasoning_, or whatever it was called, with a slightly too happy remark. It was really clear to see what his real intention was.

Killua opened his mouth but uttered nothing. He wanted to say something, well basically anything he could, to oppose Leorio's crazy suggestion but he couldn't find the right word. Seeing that he was winning this debate, Leorio bid a farewell to the other two while saying to wish him luck. He left the room, closing the door quietly. One of those who were left behind could only face-palmed.

"Oh, Leorio, you're so dead." Killua muttered.

"What is he trying to do?" The ever-so-innocent Gon questioned.

Killua looked hopelessly at his rather-hopeless-for-his-age friend and he sighed. He then whispered something to Gon's ear.

"_Peeking into bathroom."_

* * *

Leorio tiptoed across the empty kitchen. He made sure that he didn't make any noise that would cause suspicion to the owners of the house. He was still several steps away from a door that would lead him to the bathroom, but from that distance he could hear voices from behind the door. He couldn't recognize Kiara's voice, but since the Granny was supposed to be in the shop, it _must _be her. He gulped in nervous. Beyond this door was a woman who was capable to knock him out in one hit. This time she might even beat him to death. Yes, Leorio knew perfectly that what he was doing wasn't _right_, but it was the _only_ way (well, he proclaimed it to be) and his friends were _relying_ on him (actually, no). It needed a lot of courage (and lecherous mind) and it held a high risk, but he had to do this (again, no one told him to do so). He took a deep breath and tried to calm down. Think of this was for Kurapika's sake! (Actually, if Kurapika ever found out about this, he would haunt him to death.)

Leorio was now standing in front of the bathroom door. He took another deep breath then grip on the cold metal knob. Gritting his teeth, he put all of his courage then turned it.

But the door didn't budge.

He tried to turn it again but the door still didn't move at all. He tried it once again but still, the same result. Just then he jumped to a conclusion.

'Shit, it is locked!'

Well, what kind of careless woman would have taken a bath in ease without locking the door when she was living with three men under the same roof?

Disappointed, he decided to retreat to his room. But then, before he even had the time to turn around, suddenly the door was opened. His eyes met a pair of blue orbs. The other person was dumbfounded when she saw him in front of the door. He was also startled by the sudden meeting and unconsciously stared at her. Her blonde hair was wet and several drops of water run down from her fringe to her red cheeks. A towel was placed on her shoulders to prevent the water getting to her shirt. He could smell a pleasant scene of shampoo from her.

"What… are you doing here?" Her surprised expression gradually turned into a suspecting look.

"N- No, W- Well, I just… I just…" He tried to come up with an excuse but her intense glare made him panic and his mind refused to work properly. "Uh, I… You… You know, I lost something and I couldn't find it anywhere. That's why I thought I might have left it in the bathroom. I wanted to check the bathroom but then I found out that someone was there. I was going to go back to my room when you suddenly came out."

"And what exactly that _something_ is?" She asked skeptically. She then took a step behind and opened the door wider, showing him the interior of the bathroom. "Is_ it_ really here?"

"Uh, well, on a second thought, it might just be heaped up under my other belongings in my suitcase." He grinned groggily. She gave no positive reaction toward his unconvincing excuse. It was clear that she wasn't buying anything he said. By now, she must be thinking that he had intended to peek her at bath (and she was actually right). He mentally cursed and noted that this must be the end of his life.

Just then a lifesaver came.

"I found it, Leorio!" Suddenly Killua walked out of their room while holding an electric device in a size of a cell phone. "It's here... Your _shaver_."

Leorio blinked several time in confusion before he understand what was Killua talking about. "Oh, right, thanks Killua." He then turned back to her and sent her another groggy grin as he excused himself. He dashed towards his lifesaver, grabbing the younger guy and his _shaver _in the process, and went to their room.

"Oh my God, I thought I would die." He leaned his back to the door he had slammed close a moment ago and slid down to the floor. He felt his legs lost their strength.

Killua snorted. He clearly remembered he had warned Leorio before about it. Had Killua not quickly thought up a way to get him out of trouble, he must have been dead by now.

"But who've thought you owned a shaver." Leorio commented as he looked closely at the strange shaped electric device that was dubbed as a shaver.

"It isn't a shaver. It's a stun gun." Killua nonchalantly replied, which cause Leorio threw the dangerous weapon into the air as if it would stung him out of the blue. Luckily, it landed safely on the futon.

"But Leorio, I didn't thought you would be_ that_ low."There was a sign of disappointment in Gon's voice. Well, he was indeed disappointed by his comrade's act. It was not only an appropriate thing to do, but also a criminal. How could Leorio think of doing that to someone who had kindly accept them in her house?

Leorio's face reddened in shame. He tried to defend himself. "But it's the only thing we can do!"

"There must be another way!" Gon demanded. Killua nodded in agreement. Killua wasn't as goody two-shoes as Gon was, but he knew perfectly that if he hadn't backed Leorio up earlier, the three of them would've been kicked out of this place by now; resulting them to lose the truth that was only a hand reach away.

Leorio tsked and rolled his eyes in annoyance, but decided to say nothing. The other two also didn't say anything anymore and let the depressing silence hang in the air. The only things that could be heard were ticks of their watches and almost inaudible noises they made when they shifted position. The atmosphere around them was heavy and suffocating. None of them knew how long the time had passed since any of them had said anything. All of them were drown in their own thought and guilt started creeping in their heart.

Leorio thought that perhaps he should have acted more maturely and listened to the others' opinions. As the oldest one, he was supposed to lead them, not dragging them down with his immature, foolish acts. Gon felt that he had been too rough to Leorio and he should apologize for accusing him. He knew Leorio had never meant to bring harm to them; instead he had been trying to find a way out of their current situation. Meanwhile, Killua thought that he should be more opened up to the other. They had been together for a long time and instead of complaining; he should have just accepted their weakness as much as their good side.

This wasn't the right timing to have a fight with each other. They had something important to do. Just like what had been stated earlier, the truth was only in a hand reach away, but they might lose it if they weren't careful enough in handling this matter. They had lost a chance once and they had to let the bygone be bygone. However, another chance would surely come and it might be their last one. They shouldn't lose it because of a mere, childish quarrel.

None of them thought that the chance would come this soon though.

There were knocks on the door and the three guys quickly looked at it, wondering who it was. "There's something I need to talk to you. Can you all come out?" Said the one who stood on the other side of it. The voice was low and hoarse; they recognized whose voice it was. It was the Granny's.

* * *

Granny Aria went outside through the back door and the three followed her. She led them the outskirt of the village. With each step they took, they became more and more curious. They wondered what she wanted to talk about and why they need to move to a more secluded area. Finally they arrived at a desolate shore where there was no one else around. She stopped on her track and turned around to see them. Her gaze was firm. It made them feel uneasy. Had Kiara told her what had happened before? Did she think that Leorio had tried to peek her granddaughter at bath? Was she angry at them?

"What are you up to?" She asked. They noticed that instead of anger, there was something else in her voice. It was like she was trying to figure out what was in their mind. The question itself was ambiguous. They would be doomed if they didn't carefully think out the right reply before answering it. Their true intention on staying here might be accidentally revealed as well.

"What do you mean?" Instead of answering, Gon asked her back as if he didn't understand the question. It was both a good and bad decision: it was good because he didn't leak any crucial information before they got what exactly she wanted to know first; bad because it could make them sound more suspicious.

"I've been hearing some rumors that you've been investigating on Kiara."

They put on a poker face even though deep inside they were surprised by how she managed to find out about it.

"Oh, you found it out." Leorio tried to reply in a carefree remark and put on a fake sheepish smile. "Well, you see, she's pretty and nice so… Isn't it normal for a guy to learn as much as he can on the girl he's interested in?"

She stared at him for a while. It looked like as if she tried to read his expression to tell whether he was saying the truth or not. "Is that so? Is that really the reason?"

"Yeah, now that you know about it. I'm a little embarrassed." Leorio still put up with his act as he scratched his nape. Fortunately, this decreased the tense among them. They noticed a slight hint of smile on her face.

"I see. I'm sorry I was being paranoid that you might plan something bad to her... or perhaps still thinking that she was your friend."

"I couldn't be. Kiara is a she while our friend is a he. No matter how they look alike, we will never mix them up." Gon laughed off. Even though her suspicion was right on the bull's eye, they couldn't let her know about it. No, not now… Or was it actually the right timing?

"Gon's right. I understand if you're afraid that we might do something bad to her, but why would you be afraid that we're still thinking that they're the same person? We might have mistaken her as him once, but there's no way we would insist that she was him. There's no reason to do it, right?" Killua's previous innocent smile turned into a smirk. "Or there _is_ actually a reason?"

The Granny was taken aback by his question. "N- No, it's just I'm a little paranoid since she's the only family I have."

"Eh, but I don't feel thinking that she is _him_ will ever cause any harm to her. It's not like we'll ever attack her or such."

She was speechless after hearing Killua's statement and couldn't refute. It seemed that the table had been turned.

"Granma, you're hiding something, aren't you?"

* * *

Night had fallen upon the small village in Hoon Island. A lone figure walked along a dimly lighted road that was connecting the harbor to the residential area by the seaside. He had just got off from his private boat and was heading to a certain place, a certain house, a certain bar…

"Are you sure this is the right place?" He talked to a cell phone in his hand.

"Certainly. There's no doubt in our informants' capability. The even sent us several photos." said the person on the other end of the line.

"Well, if you say so." The first person then hung up the phone. He took the cell phone away from his ear then gazed on a photo on its screen. It was one of the photos his accomplish had been talking about. His amber colored eyes looked closely at a certain blonde in the photo. _She_ indeed looked like someone he had been looking for.

At first Hisoka hadn't believe it when Illumi had told him that there had been someone who looked exactly like Kurapika in the photos he had received from the butlers that had been secretly assigned to observe Killua. He had heard the news that the Kuruta had died two years ago. But then, out of pure curiosity, he had met the Phantom Troupe members and found out that Kurapika's death might have been faked. Relying on the information from Illumi, he arrived at the village where Gon and co. were staying.

Without much trouble he found Granny Aria's bar. There, he was greeted by no other than the Kurapika-lookalike. She looked quite taken aback when she saw him.

If she was Kurapika, then she must be surprised by how he could find her. If she wasn't, well perhaps she was simply astonished by his strange magician look. Either way, he would find it out… very soon.

* * *

**Next: The Hunter Trio was reaaaaally close to the truth but suddenly Hisoka showed up in front of Kiara. What was Hisoka planning to do? Will the truth of Kiara's identity finally revealed?**

**Please review and tell me what you think on this chapter! Is it good enough? Is it too slow? Or perhaps too fast? I'm also still accepting suggestion on Leorio's Nen ability ^^**

**Bye-bye and see you next week~**


	7. VI Twisted

**A-yo~! :D Yay, 6th chapter already! It means this story has been running for a month and a half. Thank you everyone for your support. *bows* **

**Previous chapter's reviewers: Ryuuken Tsugumi, AUehara, KaRisa-Hime, Harco8059, Channel-N, flower scent, TomatoLove, and HUNTER IB. Thank you for the reviews and suggestions!**

**The poll is closed now with 70 voters. I never thought we'd get so many voters! XD Please note that the main pairing here won't be solely decided based on the poll result. Indeed, I take readers' preferences as consideration but it's not indefinite. Out of the three characters that got voted, there's actually one whom I don't want to pair up with Kurapika. I'm so sorry about that. I just can't… see them together. Who is that person? We'll see later. I hope his fans won't be too disappointed when they find out about it. Anyway, for the ending I plan out this pattern: oneside!CCXKuraXCC… with a bit twist of OCxKura to add some spice (jealousy, I mean). It's still only a _plan_ but I hope I can write it out well! (Then again the main genre isn't romance so don't expect too much here.)**

**Anyhow, to the story…**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hunter x Hunter.**

**I haven't rechecked this one so grammatical errors and typos alert! Will fix the mistakes tomorrow. Corrections are welcome!  
**

* * *

**VI**

**Twisted**

The bar was always crowded at evening. The villagers regularly dropped by to have a drink in the end of the day. The beautiful and hospitable grandmother and granddaughter were like salvations after their tiring works. Today was different though. The young hostess was the only one who welcomed them while the madam was nowhere to be seen. They noticed she worked twice harder to overcome the absence of her grandmother as she served a horde of customers. Nevertheless, a smile never disappeared from her face. She agilely walked around the shop, taking orders and serving drinks. Her blonde hair that was let loose fluttered over her shoulders as she walked from a table to another. Sometimes she stopped by a table and had a chat with the much older customers.

A bell on the door jingled, signaling that a new customer had entered the shop. Several customers looked up as they saw an unfamiliar face stood by the door. They were curious as there were not many visitors to this little village. Moreover, this man also had a funny appearance. His hair was bright crimson like a burning fire. Contrast to his hair, his face was pale and there were two symbols: a star and a teardrop, painted under his narrow eyes. He wore bright colored clothes and a pair of ankle boots with pointy tips. There were also symbols on his shirt: a heart and a spade on the front, while on the back were the other two symbols of playing cards. Some of the customers were gawked when they saw this clown-like man.

"May I help you?" Kiara spoke to the new visitor. She maintained a calm voice, but a hint of surprise was still visible on her expression.

The stranger smirked as soon as he saw her. "I wonder about that. You see, I'm looking for someone…" He hummed. His smirked wider as he walked toward her. It became even creepier and creepier by each step he took.

Sensing that there was something strange on the man in front of her, she stepped backward and tried to maintain a safe distance between them. The customers who had been watching them also thought that this man might be planning something bad totheir beloved girl. Some of them stood up from their seats as they eyed him cautiously. A muscular and breaded man among them walked up to him, glaring at the other man viciously. He might scare off any normal people, but Hisoka was nothing near normal. He didn't even spare a glance at the other man.

"You better not meddle with someone else's problem." Hisoka warned the big man behind him, as well as the rest of the customers, who looked like they were ready to assault him if he made any suspicious movement.

Hearing that statement from Hisoka, the big man was annoyed. He tapped Hisoka's shoulder and gripped it hard. "It _is _my problem. If you dare touch her, we-"

The big man never finished his line. In a split second his head was detached from his body. His blood spurred out from the neck like a fountain and the floor was suddenly drenched red. The headless muscular body lost its power and fell down onto the puddle of the red liquid while the head landed a meter away.

"I warned you." Hisoka said coldly as he looked down at the lifeless body by his feet. He then turned back to the appalled Kiara and talked to her in a calm voice as if nothing had happened. "Where were we just now? Oh, yes, I was telling you that I was looking for someone…" He said, licking a single drop of blood that was left on a card he had used to slash the big man. He looked closely at the woman whose aquamarine-colored eyes were still wide open due to the shock.

Some of customers quickly recovered from their shock and ran toward Hisoka in anger. "How dare you!" They crashed bottles to the tables and used them as weapons. They tried to attack him but he effortlessly dodged every single hit their launched. The card in his hand multiplied itself then in one swift movement he threw the cards to the agitated men. He sent all of them to the afterlife as the cards cracked pass their skulls.

Kiara's legs lost their strength and she fell down to the floor. Nauseates started building up in her stomach. She felt like throwing up upon seeing so much blood. The entire room as well as the furniture was dyed in red. Dead bodies lied on the cold floor before her eyes. Screams of horror from those who tried to run away from the scene pierced through her ears. In a short amount of time, Hisoka rendered everyone there into soulless entities.

Once he was done with his little massacre, he made his way among the midst of corpses to her. He saw her body shaking violently and she didn't even dare to look up at him. She flinched every time he stepped nearer to her. She was in a really hopeless state, really different from _that person_. No, that _person_ wasn't such a weak person. _He_ wouldn't have trembled in fear like her when he had some people got killed before his eyes.

Hisoka squatted down in front of her. He then took a piece of paper from his pocket and held it up to her. "I'm looking for this person."

She gathered her courage to look up, only to find a photo of someone who looked exactly like her. The same face, the same profile… just shorter hair and a bit younger than she was. "I… It's not me."

"Is that so? You really look like him though." Hisoka said as he stared at her, observing any slightest change in her expression. "Do you know him? Is it someone related to you?" It wasn't strange to think that she and the boy in the photo were related. He wouldn't be surprise either if she was a long-lost sister or such.

At first she was startled when she heard that it was a he. She couldn't believe that there was a man who looked exactly like her. Then she remembered about Gon and the others. They had once mentioned that they had had a friend that resembled her. Was it the same person as the one this man was looking for?

"I don't know him." She didn't lie, but it wasn't entirely the truth either.

"Oh, it's just too bad." He sighed and sounded like he was really disappointed hearing her answer. Suddenly, the photo in his hand changed. The size was still the same but the picture on it changed into an ace of spade.

"I don't have any use of you anymore then."

* * *

"_Granma, you're hiding something, aren't you?"_

Killua and the said old lady stared at each other intensely, while the other two looked back and forth. There was an unproductive silence among them for a quite some time. Her eyes were locked with his deep blue ones. No one was willing to give in.

"Yes, I do have secrets," she finally opened her mouth. "But I don't have an obligation to tell you what they are." Her words could turn the table back and now Killua had to come up with a reasonable reply to keep up with her.

"Oh, you do. If she's indeed Kurapika then we have the right to know."

"It's true then, that you're still suspecting that my granddaughter isn't really my granddaughter."

"Hm? I never say that she's not your granddaughter."

Killua regained back his smirk. She was sharp but not as sharp as him. He had spilled out the fact that they had been inquiring about Kiara's identity (and ruining Leorio's previous attempt to make her less suspicious to them) but she had also accidentally given out crucial information. He was saying that Kiara might be Kurapika, but he had never anything about the relationship between the two ladies. Now that the Granny had mentioned about it; it was possible that Kiara wasn't her real granddaughter from the beginning.

'Damn, the talk about the deceased parents was also a lie then.' He felt slightly annoyed to find that he had been fooled all along.

On the other hand, even she was in a pinch, the Granny still refused to tell them the truth. She shut her mouth tightly. It was as if it was better for her to die than to say anything regarding Kiara and Kurapika. Gon noticed this. Unlike Killua, he tried to consider about her feelings. There must be a reason behind her act, why she was overprotective toward Kiara regardless that they might not be a real family.

"Kurapika… He is an important friend to us ever since the Hunter Exam. Even though it was only for a short amount of time, we fought side by side, helped each other through the hard times. We did separate and walk on different roads, but our bonds will never vanish."

Gon frowned as the old memories came to his mind. Yes, those happy moments: funny things that had occurred throughout the tests, Kurapika's words after the fourth phase, their promise to meet again at Yorknew City… At that time, he had thought that the good things would have last forever…

"When I heard that he died, I felt like my heart broke into pieces and honestly, until now I still can't get over the sadness. I believe Killua and Leorio also feel the same."

It was the first time Gon lost someone dearly to him that he couldn't find a word to describe what he had felt when he had heard the news that Kurapika had passed away. His two friends looked down as they also remembered that certain day; the worst day they had ever had. Leorio had lost a dear friend, a brother image to him, for the second time. Killua, despite having killed countless people with his own hands, suddenly had felt the weight of _death._

"That's why, when we found out that he might be still alive… I, we… Even if he's living his life as a different person now, we just wanna know if he is really alive and well. That's more than enough. It's not like we're trying to get him back and steal _her_ from you. That's why, Granma. Please… Please tell us. Is Kiara really Kurapika? Is Kurapika… still alive?"

The old lady said nothing as Gon ended his speech. She could feel his sincerity. She understood their feeling of losing someone important and that they truly missed _that person_. She also knew that they never had any hostility toward her _granddaughter_.

_Nevertheless… Nevertheless, she…_

"I… can't. I can't tell you." She said weakly as she rubbed her upper arms. She looked really sad.

Before any of the guys could ask why, they suddenly got a bad feeling. It was like someone was emitting a very awful aura that it sent a cold shiver to them. It wasn't from any of them; it wasn't from the Granny either.

"What's this?" Leorio questioned as he bewilderedly look around, trying to find the source of it.

As time passed by, slowly they recognized the aura. It felt like a bloodlust, a killing aura that would surround a psychopath… and it was awfully familiar.

"Don't tell me, Hisoka's here?" Gon bit his lower lips. Out of all things, meeting Hisoka in such a place was the least thing he wanted.

"What happens?" The Granny asked. She had no idea whom they were talking about.

"This is bad. Kiara might be in danger."

Her face drastically lost its color upon hearing Killua's statement. She then rushed back toward the village, followed by the others. _Why was Hisoka here? How did he find this place? Did he also know about Kiara? _Those questions appeared in their heads. The scenery became blurred as they ran as fast as they could. On their way back they saw some commotions. Several villagers were freaking out as they pointed at the direction where the bar was. They could also hear them saying things like: monster, psychopath, murder, etc. The three Pro Hunter felt even worse about this and picked up their pace, eventually passed the old lady.

Gon and Killua were the first ones who arrived. The door was wide opened and they could see dead bodies lying inside the shop. Among those corpses, stood the evil magician and the severely injured blonde.

"Leorio! Take the Grandma to a safe place." As soon as he saw this scene, Killua hurriedly shouted to his older friend, who was at that time still trying to catch up with him and Gon.

Sensing the urge in the silverhead's voice, Leorio quickly turned away and changed his direction. He ran back to where he came from. He grabbed the old woman by the hand and dragged her away with him. She tried to struggle from him but he was too strong. She desperately told him to let her go to where Kiara was, but he knew it perfectly that going back only meant death for her, and perhaps: all of them. Hisoka wasn't someone they could fight against even if they put their strengths together and their presence there would only cause more trouble to Gon and Killua. The two boys must be trying their best to get Kiara's away from Hisoka's fangs. They would only be distracted if the Granny's there as well. Having her there meant that there were more people they had to protect. That's why, even if without her consent, he needed to get her away as far as possible from the danger.

"Oh, isn't it Gon and Killua. What a coincidence." Hisoka greeted the two teenagers who stood by the door with a strange voice as if he was using drug. From the corner of his eyes he saw Leorio's escaping with an old woman he didn't recognize, but he wouldn't bother to run after them. Having Gon and Killua in front of him was more than enough to entertain him.

_As if he hadn't been entertained enough by the blonde who was on the verge of live and death._

"Gon!" Killua called out the guy who stood next to him. They exchanged glance as well as an inaudible plan. They had been hanging out together for a long time that it was possible to exchange thought without words. They knew each other perfectly: their personality, quirks, weakness, abilities…

Gon ran toward Hisoka and started attacking boldly. He casted his Jajanken in no time and projected several _Paper_s to Hisoka. Hisoka easily dodged the hits that were aimed to the gap between him and Kiara. His attacks didn't even scratch him, but at least they widened the distance between the two, just as planned.

Killua used the chance Gon made to activate Kanmuru and dashed to her with the speed of lighting. In no time he arrived beside her. Without even giving time for her to react, he slipped his hands under her back and knees, and carried her. He dashed back to where Gon was and passed the blackhead. But then, when he was really close to the entrance, he felt something invisible pulled him backward and made him fell onto the ground hard.

Gon was startled when he saw Killua fell down. He quickly used Gyo and saw that Hisoka had attached his Bungee Gum to Kiara and Killua. He was really shocked when he found that there was also the same Nen aura stick to his body. When had Hisoka attached it? He could understand why it was on Kiara but he should have had no time to launch his Bungee Gum to either him or Killua. They had maintained a relatively long distance between them and him and Killua had been using his Kanmuru when he had approached her.

How on earth?

"That's quite some plan you have there, but it's still… not good enough." Hisoka commented. Did it mean that he had found out about their plan all along? "Why so hurry? I promise I'll finish each of you evenly." The killing aura around them had increase to the point that it was suffocating.

Gon stood in defensive stance, getting ready for any sudden attack from the crazy magician. Killua had let Kiara down and also stood in defensive stance in front of her. Meanwhile, even though she didn't has any strength left to stand up, she still eyed her closely so that she could dodge his attack.

"You sound like you aren't surprise to see us here." said Killua.

"Well, I was informed by Illumi that you might be here." Hisoka replied. He was amused when he saw the boy frowned as soon as he mention Illumi's name.

"Big brother did?"

"Didn't you know? He's been sending people to follow you and your little brother." Hisoka leaked the information. Illumi might be troubled by this but he didn't care. He might even found entertainment in this later.

"That bastard." Killua cursed under his breath. He couldn't believe that Illumi was still targeting Alluka.

"Well, let's end this boring conversation and start." Hisoka looked Killua then Gon then Killua again. He kept switching back and forth as if he was trying to decide which _toy_ he was going to play with first and after a while, he finally decided on Gon. He wanted to see how much his _unripe fruit_ had improved.

He took out a card then held it up. He waved it in front of his face then the card multiplied itself into six or seven pieces. He waved it once again and they disappeared.

'Where's the cards?' Gon's eyes moved left and right while his body and face were still fixed facing the magician. He must be really careful or else he would get caught in the sly trick.

Meanwhile, Hisoka suddenly made a throwing movement. Gon used Gyo and he was barely in time to see the invisible cards that were enveloped with Hisoka's In. All of them were directed to him. He managed to avoid any critical hit, but he got scratches all over his body as the cards pierced through his Ken guard.

"Not bad, but you need to clearly avoid all of them. Otherwise, you're not any better than the lady over there." Hisoka tsk-ed. It looked like he wasn't serious yet and was only testing Gon first. "She is quite good though, remembering she's not using Nen."

A non-Nen-user was capable to detect weapons that were concealed by In? That sounded absurd. It was nearly impossible unless the person had an extremely good sixth sense.

It would be a different case though, for someone who actually knew Nen but just didn't use it.

For now Gon and Killua were about 80% sure that Kiara and Kurapika were the same person, even though they still hadn't got any strong evidence. On the other side, they dare to say that Hisoka was going after the same thing. They didn't know how exactly he got the news about Kiara's existence but his presence here was more than enough to proof it.

Hisoka threw another group of invisible cards. This time he threw a large number of them. They weren't only aimed at Gon, some of them strayed to where Killua and Kiara were. Even though both of them could dodge most of the cards, they ended up taking them because they were afraid she would get hit.

Fresh blood dripped from their wounds and it driven Hisoka even crazier. He sent out more and more cards. They pierced Gon's and Killua's skin and flesh like bullets. Both of the boys were quickly rendered powerless before the gap of their's and Hisoka's strengths. They could dodge the attacks but couldn't really dodge them at the same time. It was hard for them to attack back when they had to protect a certain person.

And that certain person had enough seeing people got hurt because of her.

"Enough!" She shouted in a kneeling position. Her arms were on the floor, supporting her body. Her head bowed; her face was invisible, covered by her fringes. She was trembling again, but, this time, it wasn't because of fear. "You're after me, right? You may do anything to me, but let them go. They had nothing to do with this."

Hisoka found her decision to speak up somewhat intriguing. He stopped his card attacks and replied to her. "That won't do. Killing or torturing you isn't as fun as _playing_ with them."

She gritted her teeth in anger. "You… You treat lives as _toys_?"

"More or less like that." Hisoka licked his lips. "And I'll play with them till they broke."

She snapped hearing his statement. She looked up to boldly at him and at that time everyone saw the change in her eyes.

_Her eyes had turned scarlet._

Hisoka was startled when he saw them and a moment later he was hit on the head by a hard, cold object. Gon and Killua couldn't really grasp what was happening before their eyes until they heard sound of rattling metals.

_Chain._

They looked at the chain then to her. She also looked bewildered at the chain in her hand, which had just appeared out of the thin air. Their attention then quickly turned back to Hisoka, as the said person was emitting even more dangerous killing aura.

"Just… as… I… thought…" The twisted magician muttered. He looked directly at the pair of scarlet eyes. He couldn't be happier to see them attached to a living person. He let out a chuckle, then the chuckle eventually turned into a maniacal laughter that really crept the others out. He took out a full deck of cards. It seemed that he was determinate to kill someone that had just been proven to be alive.

Just when Gon and Killua thought that it might be the end of them…

A flash of aura was projected towards Hisoka. It caught him off guard and directly hit him. The impact was so great that it even threw him backward. He hit his back hard to the wall and destroyed it.

"Quickly! This way!" A voice could be heard in the midst of commotion. It wasn't Leorio, not the Granny's either. They couldn't recognize the owner of the voice. Nevertheless, since it might be the only chance they had to escape from Hisoka, the three of them decided to follow the mysterious person.

* * *

**Oh YAY finally! It took six whole chapters for them to find out Kiara's identity. Is that really long?**

**Next: Now that Gon and Killua know that Kiara is indeed Kurapika (Leorio wasn't there but he'll also find out about this soon) and somehow they escaped from Hisoka for the time being. Will he keep pursuing them? Or will he…? And who's this mysterious person who helped Gon and co.? **

**This chapter is slightly longer than the others. Hope the length's satisfying enough! I've been receiving reviews that people want longer chapters. **

**Review please! Reviews are sweets for every author!**

**P.S. I've created a new forum in this fandom. It's called Hunter Lounge. Please drop by if you have time! You can find the link to it on my profile :D  
**


	8. VII Truth

**Hello! Thank you for the wait. Here's the new chapter for you :D**

**Thanks for these lovely people who've reviewed last time: AUehara, Nispedana, Channel-N, TomatoLove, Ryuuken Tsugumi, noctisluxys, flower scent, KaRisa-Hime, RabuRuka-sama, and JY. I also thank those who've faved and/or subscribed this particular story. Thank you for your support up until now! I'll do my best to make this story more interesting ^^**

**On other note, YAY 49 reviews! We're just one review away from 50. I'm excited to see who'll be the 50th reviewer of this story. Is that YOU? :3**

**Disclaimer: Togashi-sensei, please come back soon!**

* * *

**VII**

**Truth**

A ray of light rose from the east, signaling that a new day had came. The fresh morning air mixed with scent of pine tree blew through two-meter tall windows and entered a well furnished room. Sat on a cozy sofa inside the room were three young men. The tallest man among them was taking care of one of his friends' wounded limbs, while the last member of the group had fallen asleep due to exhaustion.

"Ouch!" Killua winced in pain as his aspiring- doctor friend tended a cut on his right elbow with antiseptic. "That's hurt, dammit! Be a little delicate, won't you?"

"Bear with it or else you'll get infected by tetanus." Leorio nagged while he wrapped some bandages to Killua's arm. Really, why couldn't this brat stand a mere stinging sensation of antiseptic while he could endure electrocution?

Killua tsk-ed and rolled his eyes, but didn't argue. He occasionally winced and groaned in pain as Leorio continued aiding his wounds. He glanced at Gon who was sleeping next to him. The other boy had undergone the same treatment beforehand and looked like a mummy now. Gon's wounds were way more severe than him.

Hisoka. To think that that bastard had even seriously tried to kill them.

Killua He tried to recall the past event but everything had happened so swiftly back then that he hadn't gotten enough time to grasp what had been really going on. Everything he knew was that Hisoka had suddenly appeared and attacked them; and that both of him and Gon would most likely have been dead by now if they hadn't been rescued at that crucial moment. It had been really lucky of them that a powerful nen user had just happened to pass by and decided to save the day.

His train of thought was then dispersed when that certain person entered the room with Granny Aria, followed by several people who looked like servants. Their appearance also awakened Gon. Albeit he was still in a daze, the spiky haired guy raised his head that had been previously rested on the sofa's arm and sat up to sit in proper manner.

"How's Kiara's condition?" Leorio asked to the Granny as soon as he caught a sight of her.

"She's fine," the granny answered as she walked toward the guys. She took a seat on an arm chair in front of them. "Her wounds have been taken care and she's sleeping now."

He sighed in relief as he heard it. His attention then altered to the person who sat next to her.

"You can also take a rest and let the servants take care of you instead." said the mysterious man.

"Thank you for the offer, but it's okay. I can do this much by myself." Leorio raised his hand as he politely turned down the offer. "You've already helped us a lot, Mr…?" He stopped as he realized he hadn't gotten the name of the man before him.

"Loki." The other man replied. He was a quite handsome man. His hair was silver like Killua's. Contrast to the hair color and his pale skin, his eyes were obsidian black. He wore a deep blue long sleeved shirt, black pants and a pair of expensive-looking leather shoes. From his appearance and face, he looked like he was around his late twenty or early thirty.

"Oh, yes, Mr. Loki…" Leorio continued his disrupted speech. "We're really thankful of your help. You even let us stay here."

"It's my pleasure." Loki replied as he slightly bowed.

"Sorry for being rude, but may I ask who are you?" Killua asked. Even though he was grateful for this man's help, he was also curious about his identity.

"He's an old acquaintance of mine." Granny Aria answered in Loki's behalf.

"I see." Killua muttered as he nodded. That explained why the two looked like they had known each other. He also presumed that she knew this Loki man well enough to trust him and let him take all of them to his place.

"I was happened to be around that area due to my job and was thinking of visiting Mrs. Aria's place when I met her and Mr. Leorio." Loki said, referring to their encounter back then.

At that time, Leorio had been dragging the Grandma along to run away from Hisoka. They then bumped into him, who had been on his way to her place. After learning what had happened from them, he told them to take shelter at his ship while he had voluntary gone to check the situation at the bar. After that, just as Killua and Gon had known; he had managed to distract Hisoka for a split second and taken that chance to get the two teens and Kiara out of trouble. The four of them had escaped the magician's poisonous fangs by a hair breadth and run to the ship where Leorio and Granny Aria had been. The ship then had quickly set off to a faraway place in hope that Hisoka couldn't have followed them.

Thankfully, it seemed that they had been fortunate enough that Hisoka had lost them during the commotion. Even thought they were badly injured, at least they had some space to breathe for the time being.

"To be frank, I was a little surprised that there was a madman for real. At first I had thought that it had been only a drunkard that had been throwing tantrum a little more dramatically than usual." Loki added.

"I'm sorry for dragging you into danger." Gon bowed. He was ashamed. Not only that he hadn't been able to protect people around him, he also had dragged a completely unrelated person into danger because of his incapability.

"Oh, no, it's okay. It wasn't your fault on the first place." The gentleman shook his head.

Gon, Killua and Leorio exchanged looks. It had been actually their fault. Even though his true intention had been unclear, there was a high possibility that he had been searching for Kurapika as well and they had been the ones who had lured Hisoka there.

"You see, actually we know that madman…" Leorio stated. He couldn't find a right word to describe the relationship between them and Hisoka. Hisoka was definitely not their friend, but he wasn't a mere acquaintance either.

"Yeah, and it seemed that he was looking for a friend of ours, who very coincidentally resembled Kiara." Killua added as he locked eyes with Granny Aria. His lips moved slightly and uttered an inaudible line.

I think it's high time to tell us the truth.

Even though she understood what he was saying, she still looked reluctant to speak. She gazed the three who sat in front of her, then turned to the man beside her as if she was seeking for guidance.

"It seems that I better be going now. Take your time." He looked understandingly at her, and then bowed to the young men before him as he stood up. He ordered the servants to follow him as he left the four of them so that they could talk without interference.

She watched him and his servants exited the room and stared at the closed door for a while before turning back to see Gon and the others. She closed her eyes and deeply sighed. She remained that way for a moment before slowly opened her eyes and looked at them with a firm and determined gaze. They unconsciously held their breath when she finally opened her mouth and spoke.

"As you've guessed before, Kiara isn't my real granddaughter..."

She stopped and observed their expressions. She could read an _"I knew it!"_ expression on Killua's face, while Leorio was staring at her with a blank face as if he had a hard time to process the piece of information he had just gotten through her confession. On the other hand, Gon was biting his lower lips and clenching his fists. He looked like he was really eager to hear the continuation of her speech.

"However," she continued. "Whether she's really your friend or not… I don't have any idea about that."

She turned her line of vision to the windows behind the sofa they were sitting on and gazed at the greenery outside as she recalled the past.

"I met-, no, I _found_ her two years ago. I _found_ her drifting away in a river near my old house. She was severely injured and was on the verge of death. I took her in and tended her wounds. She stayed in comatose state for days, and when she finally regained her consciousness… she couldn't recall any single thing about herself and her past. Among her belongings I found a Hunter License. I didn't know what she had gone through, but I could tell that her life had been miserable. What else could cause such a young girl to work as a hunter? It didn't take a genius to tell that her wounds had been because of a fight. That's why, I decided to take her under my wing and treat her like my own family. We moved to Honn Island in hope that she could start a new life. It did take time for her to completely heal, but at last she could adapt to the new environment." She gazed back at the three, who were solemnly listening to her story. "But then you guys came and her life started to turn upside down again…"

Miserable? No, it was understatement. Kurapika's life had been more than miserable. When she was young, her entire tribe had been massacred by a group of thieves. She then had to bear the title of the sole survivor of her clan, continued living on as a boy while seeking revenge for her people. She had done basically anything she could to get information of the troupe and retrieve the missing scarlet eyes of her people to the point of joining the underground world. She had neglected her own will and risked her life for the sake of vengeance. She even had dyed her own hands with blood.

Even though she had never told them the details, they knew what kind of hell she had been living on. At some point they wished she could have forgotten her grudge and started a new life… And the woman before their eyes also wished the same thing. Thanked to her, Kurapika had a new, happier life as Kiara.

But then they had ruined everything again. Oh, how they wished they hadn't had visited that small village and met Kiara at that place. Both of Granny Aria and the new Kurapika would have been living their life happily even now without interference, Hisoka would have never dropped by and the villagers wouldn't have suffered such a great loss.

Nevertheless, one couldn't change the past.

* * *

Kurapika slowly opened her eyes. Her eyelids were really heavy and she felt as if she had needed all her strength to open her eyes. She batted her eyes several times before she could focus them on a white ceiling above her. She tried to move her limbs and felt the softness of the queen-sized bed she had been sleeping in. After she managed to sit up despise the pain she felt all over her body, she looked around and studied her surroundings. She was in an unfamiliar room. The room was big, decorated with white wallpapers. Morning sunshine shone through several wide windows with white frames and a matching glass door which lead to the veranda. They were decorated with broken white curtains. A crystal chandelier was hanging in the middle of the room. On the opposite side of the room, there were a cupboard, a drawer and a metal framed mirror above it. There was a pair of armchairs and a small table on the left side of the bed while on the right side was a fireplace. Next to it was a white framed door with golden doorknob.

She then heard soft knocks on the door.

"Come in." she said to whoever stood out there

A silver haired man opened the door and walked in, followed by a maid with a tray in her hand. She placed the tray with breakfast on the table, and then quickly excused herself.

"How are you feeling?" He asked after the maid left.

"Fine, I guess?" She answered, raising a perfect brow. She looked closely at the unfamiliar man, trying to figure out who he was.

He realized what she was doing and quickly answered the indirect question. "I'm sorry for my rudeness. The name is Loki. I'm the owner of this house. Your grandmother and I are old acquaintances. It's pleasure to meet you, Ms. Kiara."

She suddenly remembered about what had happen the previous night. "How's her? Is she alright?" She asked rather hastily.

"She's fine. She's having breakfast downstairs with the others." He smiled at her, who was sighing in relief. "Speaking of breakfast, would you rather having breakfast in bed or...?" He gestured at the tray on the table.

"Oh, it's fine. I'll have it by myself." She politely declined.

He nodded. "Okay. Just don't push yourself to much. You're still physically exhausted because of the blast you had before."

"By any chance, are you a doctor?" She tilted her head and asked in curiosity.

"No, I'm just a humble merchant who know a little about Nen." He slightly bowed.

"Nen?" She batted her eyelashes hearing that particular word. She caught his questioning look. Realizing that he might have heard her mumbled, she quickly added. "No, it's just… I feel like I've heard of it but I don't remember when or where, nor what it was."

"Then it must be what people call as a body's memory." He unexpectedly replied.

"Excuse me?"

"I've once read about it in a book. It's said that there were two memories: memories of the heart and memories of the body. Sometimes, even if the heart had forgotten about something, the body might still remember about it." He explained.

She thought about what he just had said. "It might be true." She muttered. That was probably why sometimes she felt familiar of certain things or people, even though she couldn't anything about them. For example, the chain that had appeared last night. Even though she had been really surprised to see it, deep inside she felt like the chain hadn't been novel to her. It was as if it had been always near her.

Another example was people she had met lately: Gon, Killua, Leorio and also, the madman who had attacked her. Even though she couldn't recall them, she had a feeling that she had met them in the past… To think about it again, if she took the_ two memories_ philosophy into consideration, she might have met them for real. Perhaps it had happened over two years ago, when the past was completely unknown to her.

* * *

It had been several days since Granny Aria told the three Hunters the truth on Kiara. Even though the granny had said that she hadn't known whether Kiara had been Kurapika or not, the three of them knew it perfectly that Kiara was Kurapika. She had shown her Nen ability and it had given off the same feeling as Kurapika's. Their Nen Teachers had once told them that it had been impossible for two persons to have exactly the same Nen abilities. Not to mention that her eyes had turned scarlet at that time. They were one hundred, no, one thousand percent sure that she was Kurapika.

Nevertheless, even though they had known the truth, they were still pondering whether they should tell her about it or not.

"In my opinion, Kurapika has the right to know." Killua spoke in.

"But she has suffered a lot in the past and she basically has a happy life now. Won't telling the truth only ruining her current life? Isn't it better to leave her be?" said Leorio.

"It's not like I don't understand what you're saying… But still…" Killua's eyebrows furrowed as he thought. Telling her the truth or not, it seemed that there was a big consequence lied behind each option. She would get hurt no matter which resolution they chose.

Leorio turned to his other friend and asked. "What do you think, Gon?"

"Hmm… I don't know either…" Gon answered as he stared blankly at an abstract painting in front of him.

During their stay at Loki's mansion, the owner let them do whatever they want or go wherever they want. At first the boys wanted to explore the nearby town, but since they hadn't fully recovered, Leorio insisted they still needed to take some rest. Thus in the end, the three of them found their selves in a gallery located on the right wing of the mansion. The room was decorated with a lot of paintings in various styles: still-life, landscape, portrait, abstract, etc. Looking at the number of the expensive-looking pieces of art there, they wondered how rich the Loki man actually was. Well, Killua said that it wasn't that much, since his family was also extremely rich, but for Leorio and Gon, having a personal gallery in one's house was more than awesome.

Some people said that going to a gallery and looking at beautiful pieces of art could help someone solving their problem. But in these guys' case, it didn't help much. They were still as restless as before and looking at some abstract paintings with bright colors only made them even more confused.

Really, what to do?

Should they tell her the truth? But, as had been stated before, it would ruin her current life. She would also become sad if she knew that Granny Aria had been lying to her. Or should they shut their mouth and pretend that they didn't know anything? That way she could continue her peaceful life even though it meant that they would continue lying to her until God knew when.

"Killua, Leorio." Gon suddenly called out his friends' name. The said guys looked at him questioningly.

"Tell me, if you were her… Would you rather live a happy lie or a sad truth?"

* * *

**I'm sooooo sorry for the short chapter. I'm having a ****major writer block right now. I hope you understand. I'm also really sorry if you're dissatisfied by the lack of action in this chapter as well. TT_TT**

**On other note, college is starting next week so I don't think I can update regularly from now on. I promise I'll try to update as much as I can.**

**Next: With Granny Aria's consent, Gon and co. finally decided to tell Kurapika the truth. What would her reaction be? And what would they do from now on, considering the danger that was after this amnesiac woman****?**

**Please review and tell me what you think on this chapter. Concrits and suggestion are welcome!**


	9. VIII Decision

**H-E-L-L-O :D JunJun here bringing you the eight chapter! *is trying to update as much as she can before the assignments start to piling up***

**Last time's reviewers: flower scent, 361, RabuRuka-sama, AUehara, RedMahlova, and Ryuuken Tsugumi. Thank you guys for your lovely reviews! Also for those who fave and alert this story (and myself as an author), thank you very much ^^**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hunter x Hunter**

**I got so many plot bunnies lately. It's so tempting to start a new story while you barely have time to update the existing one.**

* * *

**VIII**

**Decision**

Gon and the others were startled.

Yes, they were startled when they saw Granny Aria approached them in the gallery.

For the last few days, the elder had been _avoiding_ them. She had been locking herself in her room the whole time. Even during the meal time, she hadn't talked much to them. Every time they had asked something to her, she had only answered either yes or no, or some dry, short answers. The only ones she had normally talked to were Kiara, Loki and several servants.

Her negative behavior toward them was natural though, as they had wronged her. They had forcefully pried her secret and treated her as if she had been hiding some bad intention to them and Kurapika. It had been as if she had been a criminal who had kidnapped Kurapika from them, even though in reality she had been the one who _saved _their friend from the grim reaper. Had she not found Kurapika at that time, the last Kuruta might have really died by now.

So, logically, she had the right to hate them for what they had done and it was fair if she did so.

That was why; they were really surprised to find her initiated a meeting with them.

The elder looked at them with a straight, determinate gaze. Her voice sounded really tranquil when she spoke.

"There's something I want to show you."

* * *

The main street of the Honn Village was dark and empty. Killua and Leorio looked around and found not even a slightest hint of living being around them. It was expectable though, as it was already late in the midnight. At this time, people must be either sleeping in their house or sailing at the sea to catch fish. Although they didn't express it, both of them were wondering why Granny Aria wanted them to accompany her back to her house at this hour. It was as if she had been avoiding the villagers, who must have been deadly worried about her and Kiara. They occasionally looked at each other, but none of them got what the old lady was thinking. They were really curious, but somehow they felt like they shouldn't question her intention.

Well, whatever it was, they would find it out anyway… sooner or later.

After following her in silence for a quite some time, finally they arrived in front of her house. The house was in a quite bad condition. The front door was missing and most of the windows were broken. There was a police line set in front of the door-less entrance, symbolizing that civilians were prohibited to enter. There were also several missing people reports placed on the wall. It seemed that the villager had been looking for the owners of the house, who had disappeared on the same day as the slaughter. Ignoring the ban, the Granny and the two young men entered the house only to find that the bar interior was in even worse condition. The tables and chairs were beyond repairable. Some pieces of wood were even unrecognizable, whether they were used to be tables or chairs or any other furniture. Pieces of glass in various size and color shattered on the floor. The walls were filled with scratches; several cards were also left sticking there. The wall behind the counter was in the worst condition. It got a big hole on it, big enough as it even fit for a man to walk through. It seemed that the scene was intentionally left untouched by the police for further investigation. The only differences were perhaps that the bodies had been moved and replaced by some human-shaped outlines made of white tapes, and that the blood all over the room had dried up and looked like black paint now.

Killua stared at the broken furniture. As far as he remembered, they hadn't been in that pitiful state when he and Gon had been fighting against Hisoka. Had that crazy clown threw tantrum and destroyed everything after their escape? He involuntary shuddered imagining how creepy Hisoka had been at that time. He hated to admit it, but Hisoka was one of a few people that he acknowledged to be stronger than him. On the other side, Leorio, who hadn't witnessed the deathly aggression back then, looked around bewilderedly at the scene. Even though he had heard the story about it from the others, he had never imagined that it had been _this_ bad. His heart shrank thinking of what it would have been if he had been there at that time. Would the powerless him also have died in vain like the poor villagers?

Different from the two guys, Granny Aria didn't even spare a glance at her surrounding and walked toward the inner part of the house. After Killua and Leorio recovered from their shock, both of them then followed her again. They were relieved to find that the other rooms were spared from the destruction. This meant that the belongings they had left behind were most likely still safe and sound. Guided by the Granny, they went to the second floor. It was the first time they went upstairs. They walked through a narrow corridor and stopped in front of the second door. She opened the door and entered the room. From the furniture inside, the guys could tell that it was a bedroom for one person.

Apart of the bed, cupboard, tables, chairs, and any other things people usually found in a bedroom, there was a photo of three people placed on a dressing table. They somehow found it interesting and decided to look at it more closely. In that photo, there were a couple of young man and woman, and a middle-aged woman who sat on an armchair in front of them. They then realized that the middle-aged woman was actually the younger version of Granny Aria and noticed that she was holding a baby. The three adults in that photo looked really close to each other. It didn't take a genius to tell that it was a family photo. The young couple must be her son and daughter-in-law, while the baby must be her _real_ grandchild. Leorio and Killua suddenly felt a bit sad when they remembered something. According to what she had previously said to the silverhead, those people might have passed away, leaving the old lady alone in loneliness.

While the young men were paying attention at the photo, Granny Aria proceeded to an end table that stood on a corner of the room, between the bed and a wall. She kneeled down in front of the short table, took out a small key from her pocket and put it in a keyhole of a drawer that was attached to the table. The guys were distracted from the photo when they heard the vague click sound when she unlocked the drawer. They curiously watched her cautiously took something out of the drawer. They couldn't saw what it was clearly, as they were facing her back. Just after she stood up and turned to them, finally they could recognize the mysterious thing in her hands. It was a small ornamented box made of brass. The size was no bigger than a 4R photo frame.

"I've been thinking about this matter for days and finally I decided that I should entrust this to you." She stated as she handed over the brass box to Leorio.

The twenty-one year old man awkwardly received it. He stared at the box that was now in his possession for a while then turned to Killua, who at that time also looked back to him. The younger guy nodded at him, nonverbally stating that it was okay to open the box. Understanding the code given to him, Leorio looked back at the box. He gulped nervously and finally gathered his courage to open it.

How surprised the two guys were when they saw the contents of that box…

"Please take care of my Kiara." The granny said with a sad smile.

* * *

A black haired teenager stood alone at a veranda of the manor. He leaned his well built body to the railing as he gazed to a single ray of light that slowly rising behind the grayish-blue mountain. Occasionally he yawned and rubbed his teary eyes. His body was exhausted and he felt sleepy, yet his mind didn't allow him to rest. He couldn't stop thinking about his two friends who had set off with the Granny several hours ago. Even though he had heard a report from Loki's men that Hisoka had left the village several days ago, he was still worried that the madman would show up out of nowhere again. Not to mention that he was deadly curious about why Granny Aria asked them to accompany her back to her house despite the danger.

Gon's lips formed a pout as he thought about what the others were possibly doing right now. Man, how he wished he could have gone with them... Too bad that Leorio and Killua had insisted that he should have waited at the mansion because he hadn't had fully recovered yet.

His trance was then interrupted when he heard faint footsteps slowly approaching to where he was. He turned around and saw a figure was walking toward him. At first he didn't recognize the person, but after that person came to the brighter side, he finally got who it was. It was Kiara… er, he meant Kurapika… Honestly, he still had some problems adjusting himself to the fact that Kiara was actually Kurapika. Back then when everything had been still unclear, he had thought that Kiara had really resembled Kurapika in many ways, but he had never had the idea of both of them being the same person.

"What are you doing at this hour? Can't sleep?" She asked gently as she walked toward him and stood beside him.

"Mh-hm. Sort of." He nodded.

"Same with me then." She looked at the sunrise that was still far away in the East and stretched her body. She closed her eyes for a while and took a deep breath, enjoying the cold yet refreshing air. "I've been taking too much rest lately to the point I don't even feel sleepy at night anymore."

"Hmm…" He unconsciously hummed as he thought of her condition. Just like him, she must have been forced to take a lot of rest because of her injuries.

She leaned to the railing; her hands were crossed atop of it. She turned her face to see him. After looking at his face for a while she then said. "Your case seems to be different though. It looks like something's bugging you."

He blinked several times then chuckled upon a realization. The person beside him was indeed Kurapika. Really, nothing could get away from her sharp eyes.

Both of them then fell into silence. After a while, he took a glance at the young woman. Her aquamarine eyes were set on the slowly brightening sky; appreciating the rare scene people could only find at this hour. He secretly studied her face profile. In the past he had always thought that _he_ had been a little too pretty for a man, but now after he had learned that _he_ had been actually a _she_… he couldn't help thinking that she was a real beauty. Not to mention that her golden crown was longer now. It reached her mid back and her fringes beautifully framed her face, making her looked even more feminine.

As his mind had drifted away, he didn't realize that now he was staring openly at her. Of course the young woman didn't fail to notice this. She turned to him and raised an eyebrow, forming a perfect arch; her eyes silently asking what he was doing. He was taken aback when the mesmerizing blue orbs greeted his hazel eyes. He quickly turned away and looked straight, though his mind wasn't paid much focus on the scenery before him. A slight tint of pink appeared on his cheeks. He was embarrassed getting caught red-handed. He knew it was rude to stare at the others and he hoped that she didn't get offended because of it.

Kurapika didn't complain. Instead, she only kept looking at him in silence. Yes, now she was _the one_ who was staring openly at the other. The way she was looking at him was different from him though. Instead of observing his face like he had done to her, her eyes were set at him, straight and unchanging. She looked like she was trying to figure out something in him, as if he had been an incomplete puzzle she wanted to crack so badly.

If looks could kill, he might have died by now with a hole on his skull.

"I have something I need to tell you." She said as she finally altered her gaze back to the scenery of sunrise. "It's about the friend of yours, the one who look like me…"

He felt his body stiffened when she mentioned _that particular friend of his_. "What's about him?"

"The red haired madman who visited our bar back then… It seemed that he was looking for that person."

"I see…" Gon replied weakly as an image of Hisoka involuntary popped in his mind. It was unquestionable that the magician had been there to search for _her_.

"It looks rather troublesome being chase by that kind of person." She commented.

Troublesome was an understatement. Hisoka was a disaster. No one knew what that twisted magician was thinking about and who he really was. Sometimes he acted like a friend, another time he acted like an enemy.

"Will that person, your friend, be alright? Don't you think that he might have encountered the madman by now?"

Gon batted his eyes. Was it just him, or was she showing some interest in _that person_?

"I guess… he'll be fine," he answered hesitantly. "In one way or another…"

"I see." She hummed. She rested her head on her palm. Her eyes were still set straight ahead but they were unfocused as she mused. "I'd like to meet him even just once…"

He tightened his grip onto the railing as he felt his heart ached. The further they talked about _Kurapika_, the more he wanted to tell her the truth.

"This might sound strange but… I feel like I can understand _something_ about myself if I meet him…"

_Kurapika is you! You are our Kurapika!_

How badly he wanted to say it out loud. He really wanted to say it to the point he needed to bit his own lips to keep himself from saying it. A taste of metal stung his tongue as he unconsciously bit his lips to hard.

Indeed, he was really happy to find her alive, safe and sound. He hadn't lie about how happy he had been to get a chance to see her once again. He was also glad for her that she had her own little yet happy life. She was much cheerful now and didn't have burden on her back. She wasn't weighted by her awful past and didn't need to think about revenge anymore.

It might be better for her to stay the way she was right now. He knew it and he wanted to believe it. However, a small part of him refused to take it. Deep inside his heart he still wished that she would remember about him and everything they had gone through. He missed the ever-composed Kurapika he knew, the one that used to be the voice of reason among the team.

"Sorry, I keep talking about nonsense." She said as she turned to him with a sheepish smile. Her expression then quickly changed when she saw his face. There was a single drop of tear running down his cheek. "Gon? Are you… crying?"

The said guy quickly rubbed his wet cheek. "No, no. This's just… It's because I yawned." He lied.

"Oh… I see…" She replied. There were solicitudes reflected in her eyes. "Why don't you take a rest then?"

"Yeah, I think I'll do that." He nodded. He was tired from too much thinking about everything, and need to give his brain a rest. He bid a very late good night to her (even though it was almost morning) and left the veranda. He turned to the corridor without sparing a glance at her and went completely out of her sight.

* * *

Killua and Leorio had just come back from their visit. Along their way back to the mansion, they had been discussing about what had happened back there at the granny's house, why she had taken them there and given a particular box to them. What had she meant by asking them to take care of Kurapika? Did it mean that she had given them consent to tell her the truth? Did it mean that she had fully trust them, that they wouldn't have hurt her precious foster granddaughter?

Then again, they still couldn't decide whether they would tell Kurapika the truth or not. It was unquestionable for them to think about the best for her; even without the granny's request, they would do anything to_ protect _her. Nevertheless, whether it would be the happy lie or the sad truth, none of them sounded right for them. They still couldn't decide no matter how long they had thinking about it.

They were walking along the corridor on the third floor and were planning to return to their respective rooms when they saw a familiar figure on the other side of the marble floored corridor. The young guy in green jacket was walking slowly toward them while looking at his feet.

"Gon!" Killua called out. He and Leorio then speed walked to approach their friend.

The said person looked up and greeted them with a weak smile. His eyes were red and he looked really tired. The other two wondered whether it was simply because of the lack of sleep. He also noticed the small box in Leorio's hand, but he seemed too tired to question about it.

It was really so not-him.

The ever enthusiastic Gon would always have an unbelievable amount of energy, to the point that it was almost inhuman. Not to mention that he should have been really curious about their visit to the Honn Village.

"What's wrong?" Leorio asked in concern.

Gon looked at the older guy's face for a while and sighed. "No, it's just… I've been thinking too much lately and I feel like my mind would explode anytime soon because of it."

They understood what he meant. Thinking about what was_ the best_ for their condition seemed endless. No matter how much they racked their brains, they still didn't get the answer. It was never-ending.

"What is the best for Kurapika… To begin with, I don't even feel we have the right make a decision on her life…" The beast hunter muttered, half-talking to his own self.

Killua tapped his best friend's shoulder and smiled sadly. "In that case, what do you _want_ to do?" He asked softly.

"I…" Gon paused and thought. What did he want? What did he wished for? "I… want to call her by her real name. I want us return to what we used to be."

Killua and Leorio looked at each other. They then nodded as if an understanding had been made through their exchange of glances. Leorio tapped Gon's other shoulder and said.

"Let's follow what your heart says then."

* * *

The sun had risen higher in the sky and it shone warmly on the blonde girl's face. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. She closed her eyes as her mind reflected on what had just happened.

Gon, that boy… Had he really cried back then?

She was worried whether she had said something she shouldn't have said. Had it been about his friend? He had seemed rather reluctant to speak about that person. She sighed, thinking about how ignorant she had been. She should have noticed it earlier. It would have been better if she hadn't kept asking about that person despite the lack of respond she had gotten.

She just had been curious and even now, she still was. She was just curious about the person whom people said to be really similar to her. She wondered whether the two of them were related to each other, in one way or another, either genetically or historically. Either way she felt like she might know something about her unknown past through this person. She also felt that it might be related to how she found Gon and the others really familiar to her.

"Kiara!" suddenly she heard someone called off her name. She turned around and found three people had just walked pass a glass door that led to the veranda where she was.

"Gon? I thought you've gone to sleep." She asked in bewilderment. Somehow he looked slightly better than before. There was a determination in his eyes. Killua and Leorio who stood behind him were also looking at her with the same determination in their eyes. She was even more curious when she saw a familiar box in Leorio's hand. She felt like she had seen it before. If she recalled it correctly, her grandmother also possessed a box that similar to it.

"There's… There's something important I haven't tell you yet. It's about our friend, _Kurapika_…" the black haired teen said. He seemed quite tense as he kept clenching his fists. "Would you listen to us?"

She blinked in confusion. Why did Gon suddenly sound so serious? "Sure. Go ahead." She replied.

Gon turned to Leorio. The older guy nodded to him in reply. He understood that the boy was asking him to explain _the story of Kurapika_ to her. "We once told you that we had a friend who looked like you, right? Her name was Kurapika."

"Wait, I thought it was a he." She cut in.

"Yeah, at first we also thought that it was a he, but recently we learn that Kurapika is actually a female."

She nodded as she received the new information. Leorio then continued his explanation. "Sometime in the past the four of us met in a Hunter Exam. The exam only took place in about one week, but we quickly became friends despite our different personalities and backgrounds. After the exam we parted ways. We were still in touch but she became busy after she got her job and we lost contact for a while." He paused for a while. A memory of the time when Gon had been in hospital came to his mind. At that time, he had tried to call her countless time but failed.

"And then… out of the blue, we got news that he died in an accident."

She covered her mouth. Guilt quickly crawled up her heart as she thought that it had been the reason why Gon had seemed to be really sad back then when they had been talking about _this Kurapika_. "I'm so sorry to hear that."

"Nonetheless," Killua suddenly said. "Her body was never found thus her death is still questionable up until now." He paused, studying the change in her expression before he continued. "And everything happened _two years ago_."

Kurapika's eyes slightly widened. A person who looked like her, unconfirmed death, missing status, two years ago… What did they mean by _recently_ found to be a female, while the person in concern had died years ago? And why; why must it be two years ago? Hadn't two years ago she also had an _accident_ that had caused her lost her memory?

She suddenly felt really nervous and her heartbeat was restless.

"Pardon me, but… Didn't you lose your memory two years ago?" Leorio said.

She was surprised that they knew about it. How had they found it out? Had her grandmother told them about it? Why? For what reason? Speaking of Granny Aria, Kurapika noticed that the old woman had been acting strange lately… Did it have something to do with this?

"Yes, it's true… But it's just a coincidence."

"Don't you think it's _too coincidental_?" Killua refuted.

"Wait, are you saying that the missing friend of yours is… me?" She held her hand on her chest. "That's just absurd!"

"It's not. Listen to us first. We have a proof." The silverhead pointed to the box in Leorio's hand. The aspiring doctor opened it and showed the content to her. "We got them from Granny Aria and she said that they once belonged to you… But we know the best whom they actually belonged to."

She looked at the items in the box and stared unbelievably at yet another thing that seemed really familiar to her albeit she didn't remember anything about them. Inside the brass box was a credit-card-sized red card with a purple triangle and a logo that looked like double X on it, and a pair of silver earrings with diamond shaped pendants.

Her Hunter License and the Kuruta Tribe's earrings.

* * *

**Longer chapter to make up the previous time! Hope you're content with the word count ^^ I feel this chapter is kinda emotional though. I'm so sorry if the characters are OOC, especially Gon and Kurapika. *bows***

**Anyway pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeee review! It really took a lot of time to write (Around… three days?) and I'll be really really sad if I don't get to hear your opinion :'( Anything is fine! Concrits, suggestion, correction, comments on the plot, fangirling, or just a simple "update soon" is also fine. I appreciate anything that comes from you.**

**See you another time!**


	10. IX Determination

**Hello everyone, sorry for the long wait. This term is full by assignments so I hardly find time to write. I also need to revise the plot so I'm taking the time to do it. I still don't know what to write after this. The plot is still full of holes. I've only thought up several events but I don't know how to link the dots ^^;**

**Anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter even though there's nothing much here.**

**Special thanks to beloved reviewers: AUehara, Guest-san, 361, RabuRuka-sama, Flower Scent, Phoenix-Thunder, LordOfTheWest, JY, Nispedana, Resha Tsubaki, and ginryuumaru.**

**Disclaimer: Hunter x Hunter belongs to its respective author. Original characters and fanfic plot belong to me.**

**Standard warning on typos and grammatical errors applies.**

* * *

**IX**

**Determination**

Kurapika felt like someone had just flushed her with a bucket of icy water. A cold sensation ran through her spines and crept to her limbs. She felt really uneasy and nausea started building up in her stomach. What was this strong feeling of déjà vu? She knew them; the items inside the brass box as well as three people before her. She knew them very well, but she couldn't remember them. Her head ached only from trying to recall them.

It was as if there had been an unknown, invisible force that prevented her from remembering anything.

"Kurapika?"

The said blonde snapped her head and looked at the worried looking Gon.

"Are you okay?" The ravenhead asked.

"I'm fine… I just…" She stopped in hesitation. She turned around and showed them her back profile. Somehow she couldn't bear looking at them for a long time. "I just need some time."

The trio looked at each other and nodded. Without exchanging word they understood that it was the best for them to leave her alone. She must be really confused right now. It must be hard for her to accept the truth. Deep inside her mind she must have been struggling against it.

"We're leaving then." Leorio said as the three of them walked toward the door. They glanced at her unmoving back before turning to the corridor and left her.

Kurapika let out a deep sigh once she didn't hear the footsteps anymore. She was really grateful they hadn't pursued the matter any further. It was just too much for her to take everything at once. The shocking news, the pain on her head…

Massaging her head, she felt the ache slowly disappeared. She closed her eyes and tried to review the previous talk.

They had a _friend_, who had disappeared two years ago. It had been around the same time when she had had an _accident _and lost her memory. Indeed, it couldn't have been a mere coincidence that two people with the same face had gotten engaged in accidents on almost the same time. Moreover they had claimed that she had possessed something that should have been _their friend's_. They had even gotten her grandmother into this and logically, why would her grandmother of all people have assisted those people if it had been only a joke? It was hard to believe, but most likely they had been saying the truth.

Should she believe them then? The strangers who had just barged into her life and turned it upside down? The strangers who had come out of nowhere and claimed that she had been someone who had been thought to be dead for two years? The strangers who had staked their lives only to protect her and her family?

That question… it was uncalled for. After all, without those logical considerations, without the strange déjà vu feeling she got, she knew that they had been serious. She could see it.

Their eyes hadn't been lying.

* * *

"Gon, what are you doing?"

The said black hair teenager flinched when suddenly he heard his name being called. He quickly turned his face to where the voice had come from and saw his best friend was walking toward him.

"Oh, it's you Killua." Gon sighed. "Don't scare me like that!"

"I didn't mean to." Killua shrugged.

"But your soundless footsteps scared me." Gon mumbled. He took a deep breath and tried to maintain his heartbeat back to normal.

Killua ignored his friend's comment and looked at the thing in Gon's hand instead. After recognizing _that thing_, he shifted his eyes back to Gon's face. "So, what are you doing?" He repeated his question.

"What do you think I'm doing?" Gon asked back in slight annoyance. Killua must have figured out what he was doing, so why bothered to ask?

"Hmm, you're squatting in front of a single lady's room so I assume you must be trying to break the key and sneak into her room and perhaps steal her underwe-"

"HEY!" Gon protested.

"But since you're not Leorio, I think there must be other reason why you're here... unless you've grown up and become a perverted old man like him." Killua ended his brilliant deduction with a sly cat smile.

"Of course not." Gon pouted. He crossed his arms in defense. "Beside you're the perverted one here."

"Well, I'm a healthy teenager and you can't blame on my hormone. You, on the other hand, need to see a doctor." Killua stuck out his tongue.

"But you've been watching _those kinds of movies_ since we're young."

"And you're saying you've never watch them?"

"Of- Of course I have!"

"Well then, I'm better off telling Kurapika that you're indeed trying to-"

"I'M NOT!" Gon shouted. His face was as red as ripe tomato.

"Prove it then." Killua smirked. Oh, how he enjoyed this.

"I..." Gon gritted his teeth. He couldn't find the right word to refute Killua's accusation.

"You can't, right? I'm off to see Kurapika then." Killua turned around. Just before he could take a step away, Gon slung an arm around Killua's neck and the other on his shoulder in order to stop him.

"No, you aren't telling her any lie." Gon grinned slightly as he locked Killua in his arms.

"Oh, you think you can stop me, Gon?" Killua struggled. Any passerby who saw this perhaps would think that they were just messing around. They didn't know that these two young pro Hunter had the strength to knock out a giant elephant with one hand. If it was anyone but Killua, the neck must have been broken by now.

"You… You think she'll believe you?"

"Weeee'll see that." Killua replied as he forcefully dragged Gon, who was still clinging to his neck, away with him.

"She won't. She always believes me more than you."

"Perhaps she has lost her sentiment toward you along with her memory when she hit her head."

"_What's with hitting my head?"_

Gon and Killua paused for a while after they heard a voice that belonged to neither of them.

'Oops.'

'Oh shit.'

They thought (or cursed, to be precise) when they realized who the third person was. They slowly turned around to see the woman in question who had been standing behind them for only God knew how long.

"Ku- Kurapika…" Gon squeaked as he released Killua from his grasp.

"I thought I told you to leave me alone for a while."

"Oh, yeah. Sure… We're just…" Gon bit his lips. He then remembered his real intention of coming there and quickly took _the thing_ he had left lying on the ground when he had to use both of his hands to stop Killua before. "Here, I just come to return this to you." He offered it to her.

"This?" She looked at the thing in his hand. It was the brass box they got from Granny Aria.

"Mhhm. I forgot to return this before."

"But…"

"This is yours, Kurapika. I want you to keep it." Gon smiled.

She was unsure, but after she saw his smile, she decided to follow his will. She nodded and smiled back at him as she received the box. "Thank you."

"Well then," Killua quickly cut in before Gon could say anything. "Our business here is over. Now if you will excuse us…" He grabbed Gon by the collar than dashed off, leaving her in bewilderment.

She blinked seeing them practically running away from her.

"What strange fellows..." She chuckled a little before she unlocked her room and went in.

* * *

It was half past eight, the sun had raised high in the sky, but the mansion where they were staying was lacking of signs of life. Even though the weather was really great, somehow the atmosphere around the mansion was rather gloomy. Leorio walked along a long corridor that was decorated with tall windows on one of the wall. He passed by some maids and attendants several times, but he hadn't met other inhabitants of the house.

He pinched the bridge of his nose. He felt slightly dizzy. It must be because the lack of sleep, he thought. He had spent the whole night for his short trip to the Honn Island and by the time he finally _met_ the Queen-sized spring bed in his temporary room this morning, he couldn't sleep because of his restless mind.

Thinking of getting a cup of hot coffee, he dropped by at the pantry. Different from other rooms which were mostly covered in white, the pantry was decorated with red cedar wood. The yellowish lightning given off a warm feeling once he set his foot on the wooden floor. No matter where he went, this mansion was always splendid. Speaking of what one could obtain with money…

Leorio was too preoccupied estimating the prize of the furniture in the room that he failed to notice presence of other people there.

"Good morning, Mr. Leorio."

The ravenhaired man looked around in confusion and finally saw two figures who bore different color schemes from the warm ambience of the room. One was a grey haired woman clad in dark spring green and buff clothes. It was no other than Granny Aria. The other was a tall man whose color was almost all white: silver hair and white shirt. At first Leorio thought it was Killua but the hair style and clothes were different. He then realized that it was the host, Loki.

"Coffee?" The house owner offered.

"Ah…" Leorio startled at the question. He then quickly replied. "Yes. Americano, please."

He walked toward the counter and joined Granny Aria, who was peacefully enjoying a cup of earl grey. Soon Loki came bringing two cups of coffee and sat in front of him. The other man offered one of the cups to him and he gladly received it. He sipped the hot coffee. Expensive coffee did taste better, he mentally noted.

When would he be able to live in this kind of luxury…?

_Fate was unfair. _

He secretly glanced at the man before him. Silky hair that perfectly frame one's face, pale skin, thick eyelashes… His eyebrows twitched. Somehow it was irritating to see a man with those features. It was almost as irritating as the first time he had seen Kurapika, whom he had thought as a boy back then.

"What?"

Leorio almost choked on his coffee when a pair of black eyes looked back at him.

"N- No. I just think that it's amazing that you manage to obtain such a nice house at young age."

"Oh," Loki's lips formed a thin smile. "It was inherited."

Rich parents, rich son.

_Fate was really unfair._

"Besides," the silverhead added, "I'm actually not that young."

"Pardon me, may I ask how old you are?" Leorio asked, trying to be as polite as he could while hiding his resentment.

"Twenty eight."

Twenty eight? With that face? If people saw them together, they would think that Leorio was the older one instead.

Good looking, level headed, strong, and on the top of all: rich.

'_Dear God, I hate you.' _

Leorio bent his head down. It wasn't the right time to sulk, but he couldn't help feeling outshone by people around him. Everyone was just great. They were either bright, or super strong, or popular, or perhaps all of them. It was just too different from him. Someone who was always be normal, _un_-extraordinary, no matter what he did and how hard he tried.

He was always nothing compared to his friends. The two younger boys were always atop of him. If he recalled the attack on the Honn Island, he had been the only one who couldn't have done anything. He could have only run away and saved his own butt.

He looked at the black liquid in his hand and smiled bitterly.

He had been not only a weakling, but also a coward.

Raising the cup to his lips, he drank the remaining half of his coffee in one go.

_Cheers to this useless man._

"Say…" The senior citizen beside him finally decided to break the silence. "What are you guys going to do from now on?"

'I don't know.' He wanted to say like that but uttered nothing. Instead, he just stared blankly at the empty cup. She had said she would leave Kurapika on _their_ care, but in truth, it meant _Gon and Killua_ only. What could someone like him do anyway?

"Did you tell Kiara about _it_?" The granny asked again.

He nodded. "Mhhm."

"What did she say?"

"She said she needed time to think."

"I see…"

There was another awkward silence hanging in the air.

"What will you do… to regain her memory back?" It was Loki who broke the silence this time.

"I don't know…" Leorio murmured.

"But aren't you a doctor?"

"I'm still a student," Leorio asserted. "Besides, we don't know the exact cause of the amnesia. It can be because of an injury on the head, physical deficiencies, or perhaps a trauma. We need a throughout checkup to find the cause and for the last option, a psychiatrist will be more helpful than a doctor in general."

Loki chuckled. "You know… You said you didn't know but in truth you know a lot about it."

"R- Really?" Leorio blinked.

"I have an acquaintance in a metropolis hospital. I can arrange a meeting for you if you want." Loki offered.

"Thanks, but we need Kurapika's consent first." Leorio turned to Granny Aria.

"Kiara said she would think about it, right? In that case, sooner or later she'll give us answer whether she wants to learn about her past or not." She answered.

"What about you? Are you okay with this?" Leorio asked in concern.

She closed her eyes and answered solemnly. "I'll go with whatever she decides."

"Thank you…"

"She might not agree to go to the hospital though," Granny Aria added. "It'll make her feel as if she is sick and she might not like it."

Leorio tipped his chin and thought. She got the point. People usually disliked hospital, not to mention if Kurapika really needed to meet a psychiatrist. Wouldn't that make her feel as if she had been crazy or mentally disordered?

"Will a traditional way work then?" Loki suggested.

"What do you mean?" Leorio asked in confusion.

"Well, I've heard a story that amnesiacs might be able to retrieve memory of certain thing or someone if they were shown photographs or records from the past."

"It might work too, thought it will take more time and the success rate is quite small..." Leorio stopped. Why would he worry about it? It wouldn't be a problem, right? There weren't a time limit. They could do it no matter how long it would take: months, years… It wasn't a big deal for him.

Even if it took forever.

Because it was the only thing he could do for _her_.

* * *

"That scared the hell out of me." Killua breathed heavily. They finally stopped running after reaching the other side of the mansion. "I didn't feel her presence at all."

"You did the same though." Gon said, referring the time when Killua also had surprised him.

"You know my footsteps are naturally soundless thanks to the _old days_, but she's different. She shouldn't have known that method."

"Perhaps she's unconsciously using Zetsu." Gon shrugged.

"I feel my life has been shortened by ten years," Killua leaned on the wall. "Women do really scary. The older they turn they scarier they become. First my mother, then Bisuke, then her…" He counted with his fingers and sighed. "Just hope Alluka won't follow their steps... Nanika alone is already creepy enough."

"It can't be helped." Gon grinned sheepishly. "Just look at Aunt Mito…"

Killua recalled the days he had spent at Whale Island two years ago. He laughed remembering the moments when he had been scolded by Gon's relative. Gon laughed too as he was also thinking the same thing as his friend did. The two laughed their heart out. It was as if the fight they had had several minutes ago had never existed.

"Say, let's visit my house again." Gon suggested. "Aunt Mito and grandma will be pleased to see you again."

"That's a great idea. This time let's bring Leorio with us as well." Killua grinned ear-to-ear. "Who knows he and your aunt will have some chemistry."

"No way!" Gon laughed off. "Leorio might look older than he should be, but he and Aunt Mito are still yeaaaars apart. Besides, she likes good looking man."

"Sorry for not good looking."

The two turned their heads and saw Leorio walking toward them.

"Oh, Riorio!" Killua cheerily greeted the older man.

"It's L-E-O-R-I-O." Leorio replied in annoyance.

"Don't be so worked up. I'm just kidding." Killua grinned. "Besides…"

"_Besides_?"

"You still need to work on your Zetsu. Right, Gon?"

"Mhhm." Gon nodded in agreement.

"Huh? What was that about?" Leorio frowned.

"Noothing~" Killua whistled.

Leorio clenched his fist. He felt an urge to hit that cheeky boy right on the head, but he had to resist it. Nothing would do good out of it after all. (Plus he didn't want to lose his life yet.) Greeting his teeth to dampen his anger, he tried to change the topic to a more serious matter.

"Say, what will you do from now on?"

It was actually a similar question to the one Granny Aria had asked to him.

"I don't know. Waiting for Kurapika's answer perhaps?" Gon shrugged.

"And after that?" Leorio asked again.

"That depends on her answer, of course." The clever silverhead replied as he shoved his hands into pockets on his pants.

"Actually I already have a plan…"

Leorio told them the conversation he had had with Granny Aria and Loki back then at the pantry (of course excluding the inherited house and the host's age things). He told them what would be the best thing to do if Kurapika did want to learn about her past and how the other had agreed to help them.

"That's a quite good idea coming from someone like you." Killua commented as soon as Leorio finished his explanation.

"What did you say?" A vein popped on Leorio's wide forehead.

"Where will we find such things like photographs and journal?" Killua completely ignored the older man. "We only have one photo and as for journal and her other belongings… They must have been left behind at the Nostrade's."

"Hey!"

"Should we contact Senritsu?" Gon suggested. He also ignored the old man.

"Listen to me! I'm not finished yet!" Leorio snapped. Thankfully, this time the two boys decided to spare his sanity and finally paid attention to him. He took a deep breath to calm himself down. "Photographs and journals are quite good options, but there's something even better than them."

"Really? What it is?" Gon asked in sudden excitement while Killua was skeptically raising a brow.

"Let's bring her with us… to places we have visited together before and held more memories than a piece of paper."

* * *

**Sorry I have to end it here. *bows deeply* I want Leorio's suggestion to sound rather dramatic XD**

**A little insight on Leorio's feeling. Poor guy. He was actually quite extraordinary, but since the others were even more extraordinary, he ended up being outshone by them Thanks God he never gave up ^^ Good luck Leorio, you still have a lot more to work on... including your Zetsu XD Out of the three (Killua, Kurapika and him) he was the only one whose entrance wasn't impressive enough to surprise Gon… Meaning that Gon (and Killua) had already sense him coming even before he joined the conversation.**

**I hope dear readers like this short chapter. Please review and show Leorio (and me) some love *bows deeply again* I will try my best to update as soon as possible.**

**P.S. If you have a facebook account, please like my author page to see side arts and updates on my fics (as well as some small spoilers here and there). The link is on my profile, or you can just type _ .Junction_ on FB search engine ^^**


	11. X Parting

**Hello there. I'm sorry for the delay. A lot of things happened and I decided to continue my others story in another fandom. Don't worry, this story is still my priority. I'll do my best to update (and survive the writer's block.)**

**Special thanks to previous reviewers: AUehara, Resha Tsubaki, Phoenix-Thunder, kyouno-aru, ProudToBeaFilipina, Renegadia23, Kanon58, Winnykute, the-ultimate-star, kristeleee, as well as those who follow/fav this story.**

**Disclaimer: HunterxHunter belongs to Togashi-sensei. I only own the fanfic plot and OCs.**

**Grammatical errors and typos alert! Corrections are always welcome :)**

**A little advertisement: my pal Nispedena has drawn a pic of Killua and Gon for this fic. Check it out here: art/ 15-Year-old-Gon-Freecs-and-Killua-Zoldyck-345214680**

**Hm... Where were we? Oh right, Leorio's idea...**

* * *

**X**

**Parting**

Leorio Paladinight stomped his way through the corridor for the nth time today. A vein was visible on his forehead as he couldn't easily forget the discussion he had had with his friends. Yes, that time when Killua offhandedly refuse his supposed-to-be brilliant plan.

"_Idiot,"_ Killua's voice rang in his mind. _"That plan won't work."_

"_Eh? Why?"_

"_Isn't it obvious? The places we've been together were: Hunter Exam grounds, then my house, and lastly York New city. It's impossible to get to the first two locations, while the last one... Even if your plan works out, it will only bring bad memories to Kurapika."_

Leorio admitted Killua was right. But he hadn't needed to be that rude, hadn't he? Che. That brat.

"_Anyway, I have a better idea."_

'What is that brat thinking of,' Leorio mused. The chesire-cat grin Killua had back than had made him really curious. Nevertheless, no matter how many time he had asked the silverhead, the latter had refused to explain the detail. That brat only had given him one instruction.

"_But first, just like your plan, we need to get her to agree to come with us."_

Why, out of the three of them, did it have to be him who talked to Kurapika? Indeed he had been ONCE the closest to her, but now... He could clearly see that she dislike him, just like their first meeting long time ago.

* * *

"Say Killua, do you intend to ask Alluka's help?"

The said silverhead looked at his best friend for a while before he turned back to the 52" flat TV and answered shortly. "Yep."

"Then why didn't you explain it to Leorio earlier?"

"Coz it irritated him."

Gon looked unbelievingly at Killua. This guy, at time like this, he was still thinking of pulling pranks? Killua was just hopeless. Gon sighed and turned to the TV. He stared blankly at the LED screen, which kept changing channels thanked to the person beside him. Well, it's not like he wanted to watch anything right now. He felt rather sleepy now. It was strange remembering how insomniac he had been. Perhaps it was because he now felt slightly relieved that he didn't need to lie to Kurapika anymore.

"Honestly, I was quite surprise that he could come up with such a plan." Killua stated as he repeatedly pressing the next button on the remote control with bored face.

"Huh?" Gon mumbled, trying his best to keep his heavy eyelids open.

"Leorio," the silverhead continued. "Actually his idea was quite good. I myself never thought of such a thing. It's just too bad that we can't realize it. We did have a great time during the Hunter Exams, but the exam grounds belong to the Hunter Association and it'll be hard to get a permission to go there... not to mention we need to keep Kurapika's presence in secret for the time being. As for my house... Big brother might be there..."

"Mm..."

"Hey, are you paying attention?" Killua asked in slight irritation. He turned to Gon, only to find out that the blackhead had doze off. "Geez." At one point he wanted to flick that wide forehead of Gon, but he stopped when his hand was only one inch away from it. Somehow, he couldn't help but smiling when he saw that peaceful face.

'Maybe I should get some rest as well.' he thought. He switched off the TV and leaned back. He placed his arms behind his head, used the as pillow and closed his eyes.

Now he only needed to wait for Leorio to persuade Kurapika. The corner of his lips curved upward as he imagined what Leorio would do. He didn't doubt that it will be hilarious. Anyway, if everything when smoothly as he had planned, he needed to reserve a plane for Parii City as soon as possible. After that, he needed to inform Alluka about his arrival. After that... After that...

Killua curled his body next to Gon while the latter's head had fallen onto the silverhead's shoulder.

* * *

Leorio took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. He took a breath again and exhaled. He breathed deeply for several times while closing his eyes. He did it in order to compose himself, but then he eventually gave up on doing so as it didn't help at all. He squatted down and sighed while both of his hands held the head.

It was just too hard for him. Right in front of him stood the mighty door that would lead him to the Hel's lair. Well, that was an exaggeration. It actually was Kurapika's room, no more no less. Still, the guy in his early twenty found it really hard to knock the door.

Why?

If the two brats saw him at this state, they would wonder why he found talking to her way more difficult than peeking into bathroom.

First, because it was Kurapika; then it was because she had said she had wanted to be alone; and lastly, it was Kurapika he was about the face here. Huh? Had he just mentioned her name twice? Anyway, it wasn't because of he was afraid of her. (He admitted she was _a little_ scary, but it wasn't the case here.) It was simply because he was afraid of _the consequence_. The worst possibility that had awaited him when he had been standing in front of the bathroom back then was death, but here... it was _guilt_.

The one on the other side of this door was probably exhausted, both mentally and physically, after the series of event that had happened in the past few days, with learning her true identity as the climax. She had really meant it when she had say that she had needed time to be alone. He understood it perfectly, but then... here he was, thinking of proposing her to go on a journey with them without giving her a single day to rest.

Could he stand the guilt of continuously turning her life upside down?

He sighed and stood up. Killua entrusted this _job_ to him so there must be some reasons behind it. That boy was a clever one after all. Gathering his will and courage, he raised his right hand. _Knock, knock_. The soft sound could be heard as the back of his hand made impact with the wooden door. He hesitated for a while before calling out her name.

"Kurapika."

There was no respond. Could it be that his voice was too meek to be heard because of his hesitation? "Kurapika, can we talk for a while?" He called out a little harder this time, but, again, there was negative respond.

'Could it be that she isn't here?' he thought as his fingers trailed on the gold-colored knob and turned it. At first, he expected it to be looked but then he heard a vague creaking sound. The door was opened. She wasn't a type of person who would leave her room unlocked, he thought. Curious, he jerked his head. The room was dark and there was no movement.

So it was just like what he had thought. Perhaps she was at the library, he guessed. She still liked books even though she was a _different _person now. As for locking the door, actually there was no apparent reason to cause her to be that cautious. There were only a few personal belongings. Besides, the attendances of this mansion were all trustworthy.

He was about to close the door when his eyes caught a glimpse of _something_. Something that was interesting enough to make him entered the room without permission.

Well, actually it wasn't a thing. It was a person.

Under the lack of light, he saw a figure curling in the bed.

So she was sleeping. That wasn't strange at all, remembering that she must be really tired.

He quietly stepped forward to get a better view of her face. He wondered when had been the last time he could have seen her face closely like this. If he wasn't wrong, it had been during her fall after the incident with the Phantom Troupe. Unlike the last time, her face was a lot more peaceful. She was fast asleep to the point that she wasn't aware of his presence there.

He looked at her visage. Honestly, she hadn't changed at all. She was still the same with the one in his memory, only her hair was much longer now. Funny that even though he had always thought that _he_ had looked way to effeminate for a male, he still had a hard time believing that she was a girl for real.

Nevertheless, she was still a precious friend for him regardless her gender. Gender wasn't a big deal, though it had caused a slight change on how he saw her now. He had always hoped for a way to stop _his_ crazy revenge and hurting _his_ own self. But now... rather than to stop her, he wished he could _protect_ her more than anything.

Perhaps his instinct as a man was triggered when he learned who she truly was.

He absentmindedly swept a strand of hair from her face as he was drowned in his melancholic thought. He was several seconds too late to realize that his act had caused a pair of blue eyes to shoot opened.

She might be a sleeping beauty, but once she woke up...

There was something even more frightening than either guilt or death...

...or that what was he thought when those blue orbs stared at him and silently asked:

_What. are. you. doing?_

* * *

It hurt. It burned.

Leorio caressed his left cheek, which had a red hand print on it. Kurapika's slap was way more powerful than Hisoka's punch. At a point, he had thought she would have killed him for real.

_What are you doing?_

Why had he done _that_ to her, out of all people? He himself didn't know. It had been just... Urgh, the more he thought about it, the more confused he became.

He shook his head. Better to forget it.

Anyway, it had been really fortunate of him that she had been still willing to hear his explanation. He also had explained his true intention of visiting her. He was also amazed on how he had smoothly explained it despite the doubt he had had back then. She had looked slightly surprised when she had heard his words, but she had said she would have thought about it.

Didn't it mean that he had done his task successfully? If that so, then he better went to report it to the other.

At first he thought of covering the bruise on his cheek because it would only make Killua laugh at them, but then the thought disappeared when he found the two in the living room

Those two were... sleeping.

They had been sleeping while he had to face death alone (exaggeration intended). Just great. Really great. He grimaced. He walked toward the two, put all of his strength to his fist then hit them on the head.

"OUCH!" They yelped in pain.

"Le- Leorio?" Gon blinked as his brain tried to adjust the sudden transfer from dreamland to reality.

"Good morning!" Leorio shouted at their eyes.

"Geez, old man. You don't need to do that." Killua scowled as he covered his ears.

"You deserve it." Leorio placed his hands on the hips. "You two were dozing off while I _risked my live_."

"No one told you to go to her immediately though." Killua commented as he leaned back to the sofa. "Besides, no one's stupid enough to disturb someone who has clearly declared that she wanted to be alone."

"..." Leorio was speechless because of the mix of extreme embarrassment and anger he felt.

"Anyway, I take you've proposed the plan to Kurapika?" Killua smirked as he eyed the red marks on the tall guy's cheek. "It seems that it went worse than I imagined."

"Leorio, what happened to you?" Gon asked in innocent worry at the said guy. He raised his index finger and pointed it to his own cheek.

"Y- You don't need to know." Leorio stuttered as he quickly covered his bruised cheek with a hand. Thanked to his hotheadedness, he had forgotten about the plan to tend the bruise before meeting them.

KIllua grinned ear-to-ear once he saw a faint blush on Leorio's face. Oh, he was soooo gonna find out about what had happened between the two.

"What did Kurapika say?" Gon's question brought them to the main topic.

"She said she would think about it."Leorio answered as he took a seat beside Gon.

"I see." Gon said. He looked down and stared at his knuckles, which were placed on his knees. "I hope it won't be too much burden to her." His two friends looked at him. He then solemnly continued. "I mean, we all want her to recover her memories, but what about her? There's a chance that she wants to preserve her current life, right?"

Killua looked up and stared at the ceiling for a while. He then closed his eyes. "That's true, but... I think she'll eventually agree to go with us."

Gon turned to Killua and tilted his head. "Why do you think so?"

Killua opened one eye and watched the expression on Gon's and Leorio's faces. He then closed his eyes again and sighed. "Because she's _Kurapika_."

* * *

In front of her lied tons of books. Ones with foreign languages, ones that came from hundreds years ago, ones that had been published in limited numbers, and even ones that were thought to had been ceased to exist from the world. She raised her hand and trailed the old covers of the books that had been kept in one of the big shelves. They looked fragile, but somehow someone had been taking care of the properly so that they didn't perish. Her hand stopped on a brick red book. She took out the old book from the shelf and read the title, which was written in old language. The golden ink that had been used to write the title suited the color of the cover very well. She carefully flipped the cover page and could smell a faint scent of old parchments when she did so. She read the first sentences of the book. It seemed that this book came from an era when people still had written books manually with quills and inks.

"You really like books, don't you?"

The goldilocks turned around when she heard a familiar husky voice.

"Grandmother." she called out.

Aria smiled at her beloved granddaughter, who didn't share any blood with her, and approached the younger woman. "A large library like this is really a paradise for you, isn't it?"

Kurapika smiled back and nodded as she closed the book in her hands. She carefully put it back to its proper place before turned back to the elderly.

"Books... They remind me of your personal collections back then at home." Aria said.

"Yeah..." Kurapika replied with a sad smile and looked down.

Aria tapped the girl's shoulder. "Do you want to go home?"

Kurapika looked at the floor. Of course she wanted to go home. She missed their little house. She missed the peaceful village, the hospitable neighbors, the customers of their bar, the little kids running and playing on the paved road, the harbor, the sound of tides and seagulls, the smell of the sea... She wanted to go back, but... Could she?

"It's been a week and I'm sure the commotion has settled down by now." Aria added.

Right, the commotion. The massacre. It had happened in their very bar and caused a lot of villagers' death. She still clearly remembered the incident. That time, a stranger had came to her and said that he had been looking for _someone who had looked like her_. One of the customers then had tried to bring him down because of his suspicious act and then the bar had turned into a bloodbath in a flash.

At first she thought it had been only a misfortunate, but she had been wrong.

_The person who had looked like her_ then had turned out to be her own self. It was her who had brought a disaster to the villagers. If she hadn't been there, that man would have never set a foot on that remote island. No one would have gotten hurt. No one would have been killed.

After what she had done, could she be ignorant enough and return to that place as if nothing bad had happened? No, she couldn't. She didn't want to stake the villagers' life again because of her selfishness.

"Kiara?" Aria's voice broke her train of thought.

"Y- Yes?" Kurapika answered as she quickly looked up.

The much older woman looked closely at Kurapika's face and smiled sadly. "Do you want to recover your memories instead?"

Kurapika parted her lips, only to shut them again without uttering any word. She softly bit the lower lip. Recovering her memories looked like the best way in this situation. Now that she knew the danger that after her life as well as people around them... It was impossible for her to turn away from them. Sooner or later, she must face her past, no matter how much she loved her current, peaceful life.

However, there was something that troubled her.

What would she become once she regained all her memories back?

She knew she couldn't go back, but she was too afraid to move forward.

"I'm afraid." She confessed. "What will happen to me if I get my memories back? Will I turn to who I used to me? Will the _me_ now disappear?"

Aria raised her hands and cupped Kurapika's cheeks. "No matter what happens, to me, you'll always be my one and only Kiara." She then slung her arms around the blonde's slender body and hugged her. "I'm sorry. If only I hadn't restrained you..." She muttered almost inaudible.

Kurapika hugged back her foster grandmother. Even thought Aria always looked strong, she knew that the older woman was fragile deep inside. She closed her eyes as her body tried to remember this woman as much as it could.

Her touch, her scent, her warmth...

After a while, Kurapika pulled back. She looked at Aria's blue eyes. They were almost on the same hue as hers, just slightly darker. No wonder why people had believed that they had been real grandmother-granddaughter.

"When _the time_ comes," she said. "May I still call you 'grandmother'?"

* * *

"UWAAAAH!"

It was Gon. He exclaimed as he stared at a private airship before him in awe. Not that he hadn't seen something like it before, it was just because this childlike teenager would still be drown in amazement no matter how many times he saw this notable invention of human race.

"WOW!"

It was Leorio this time. He looked at the airship in awe, but not because of the same reason as Gon. It was because it was a _private _airship. Yes, private. It meant this was the property of the almighty Mr. Loki. Again, money could grant you anything...

"What's with you two? It's _only_ a private airship. It's even smaller than the normal, public one."Killua was the only one who didn't get owned by the large flying vehicle. "Everyone in my family has one like this... for work."

'Yeah, you and your rich family,' Leorio grimaced at the young heir of the Zoldyck family, who still had a problem with money management and his sweet tooth.

It had been three days since they had told Kurapika about her real identity and the three was now getting ready for their flight to Parii City.

And, of course, Kurapika was with them too.

Her quick resolve had come much faster than they had thought. Even Killua had been taken aback when she had said she would go with them in less than 24 hours after Leorio's proposal.

The one that took quite a lot of time was the preparation to get to the Parii City. The mansion where they were staying was in a quite secluded place, and the nearest airport was rather small that it didn't hold any international flight. They needed to either find another airport or transit several times until they reached Parii. Either way was rather troublesome. They then decided to take Loki's offer on using his private jet. However, since it was impromptu, they still needed to wait for several days.

"Thank you for your help up until now." Kurapika bowed at the man who had taken care of her and the others for almost two weeks.

"It's my pleasure." Loki replied. He then handed a bouquet as a parting gift.

"You're not going with us?" Gon asked Aria with a somewhat sad face.

The old woman shook her head lightly. "No. I'll be only a hindrance for you."

Gon scowled, saying that it would never happen.

"What are you gonna do from now on then? Are you gonna stay in that mansion?" Killua asked.

"No." Aria shook her head again. "I'm going to rent a house in a nearby town and look for a decent job."

"Are you gonna be alright?" Leorio asked in concern. For him, leaving an elderly living alone was rather impropriate.

The granny smiled at the three young men in front of her. "Don't worry. I'm stronger than I look and I'm not _that_ old." Her confident statement made the worried trio smile.

"Please take care of Kiara. Don't let anyone hurt her."

"We swear we'll protect her." The three made an oath.

"I'm not that weak. I can defend myself properly." Kurapika slightly pouted.

"I'm sure you can," Aria chuckled as she stroke the golden locks of her beloved granddaughter. "Just in case..."

The granny then watched the four get into the small-sized airship. Soon after that, the door closed and the plane slowly levitated. It rose higher and higher until it reached a certain height and moved forward. She waved to the children until she couldn't see them again.

'Please don't let anyone hurt her,' she smiled sadly. 'I really meant it.'

* * *

**At last I finished this arc *collapses* I couldn't believe it took 10 chapters.**

**After this we'll go on with the four's journey to Parii City and of course, we'll get to see Alluka! (Biscuit too, if you still remember that Alluka's staying at her place).**

**Oh right, if any of you noticed it, I enlist Kuroro's the second character because he will have a big role in this fic.  
**

**Anyhoooo, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'll be really happy to hear (read) your opinion on this, so please drop a comment or two :) **


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